A group of 25 Brazilian soccer clubs has banded together to create a joint bloc to push for a new league structure with regard to income from sponsorship deals and broadcasting rights, according to reports.
The clubs met yesterday (June 8) at the headquarters of the Brazilian soccer federation (CBF) to form an official united front and union, Brazilian media has reported, although official documents have apparently yet to be signed.
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The teams from the top two Brazilian professional divisions that have agreed to this union are those which have not signed up to join Libra, the joint venture established in early May that also wants to set up an entirely new league structure in the country.
They reportedly shied away from the possibility of joining that effort over concerns regarding the distribution of funds to clubs involved in Libra (which has, at the moment, 13 clubs affiliated with it).
According to reports, they are asking for a more drastic change in the current model than the Libra teams have suggested.
The new group is said to want 50% of all revenue to be divided equally amongst all teams – 25% to be split according to performance in the domestic leagues and 25% to be divided according to which clubs have the biggest audience (in-stadia, on TV and on social media).
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By GlobalDataThey also want to restrict the amount which the top-earning club can secure in revenue, to at most 3.5 times that of the lowest-ranked club on the income scale.
The new group also wants to share 20% of revenue with teams in the second-tier Serie B – under Libra’s proposals, this amount would only come to 15%.
the teams – as yet unnamed – are working alongside the law firm Alvarez & Marsal and the live-streaming firm LiveMode.
With 25 clubs attached to this new group, and 13 involved with Libra, there are currently only two sides from the 40 in the top two tiers which have up to this point remained independent and not joined either group.
Julio Cesar Heerdt, president of Avai, one of the clubs which has signed up to this new bloc, has been quoted as saying: “We’ve been talking over time and we’ve decided to formalize our union. Now, each club board will speak with Alvarez & Marsal and LiveMode to resolve any doubts before signing.”
Libra is being put together with the assistance of Codajas Sports Kapital, and a new league would only be valid from 2025 onwards (with the clubs having already signed contracts tying them into the current structure until 2024).
If the plan goes ahead, the CBF, which currently organizes the domestic league pyramid, would instead be restricted to handling only the country’s various knockout cup competitions and not be involved with the leagues.
The project is being bankrolled by the BTG bank.
