The disparity starts there. To make matters worse, market players have already signaled that they will offer more money for Libra than for LFF, even with the latter group having more teams in terms of numbers.
Globo, which is by far the most important company in this negotiation in Brazil, offered R$1.7 billion for the rights of the 20 clubs to broadcast the Brasileirão between 2025 and 2030. Libra asked for an exclusive proposal for its clubs and received the answer: R$1.1 billion. The difference was celebrated internally as a victory, with the remaining R$600 million being directed to the rival group.
In other words, in addition to no longer having 100% of their rights, they will still need to divide a much smaller total between more clubs than what will be in Libra. In a scenario like this, it is possible to imagine the LFF teams receiving around 50% of what the Libra teams will receive on television for 50 years.
If today Flamengo, Corinthians, Palmeiras and São Paulo are already richer than the others, the tendency is for this difference to increase. The founding of the club league, which aimed to reduce disparity and improve product quality, will actually have the opposite effect.
There is another important point to be aware of. An amount of around R$900 million will now be divided between the LFF Series A clubs: Internacional, Cruzeiro, Fluminense, Vasco, Athletico-PR, Botafogo, Coritiba, Goiás, Fortaleza, América-MG and Cuiabá.
Do you think these clubs will take the money to invest in the structure, to pay debts and improve their financial situation or to go to the market and hire as if there was no tomorrow? I’ll leave that answer up to you.
