Betting companies are shifting sponsorships to amateur football in Brazil.
Sports betting companies have shifted some of their advertising investments from professional soccer to amateur competitions, in a strategy to connect with local communities. This movement was mapped by Estadão in a survey covering eight years of sponsorships, revealing how the sector has reoriented its presence on Brazilian soccer jerseys.
The Estadão newspaper identified at least eight amateur soccer championships sponsored by betting companies since 2022, most of them in São Paulo. This shift in focus comes after a period of rapid expansion in Série A and reflects the effects of regulatory changes that have made investments in professional soccer more selective.
Ascension and accommodation in professional football
The 2019 season marked the debut of sports betting on Serie A jerseys. That year, eight companies from the sector appeared on the uniforms of 13 clubs, according to the Sponsorship Map by Ibope Repucom. Goiás was the first club to have a betting company as its main sponsor, the most valuable front space on the jersey.
The entry of betting companies heated up the market and inflated sponsorship values. Fábio Wolff, managing partner of Wolff Sports and specialist in sports marketing, stated that the sector received preferential treatment: “When betting companies arrived, the commercial plan for them was one thing, and for any other sector it was another. For the others, the value was a quarter or a third of what was asked for betting houses.”
Among the major clubs in the Rio-São Paulo axis, São Paulo was the first to sign with a betting company, in 2021. Santos and Botafogo followed in 2022; Vasco joined in 2023, when they returned to the first division. Flamengo and Corinthians closed deals in 2024, and Palmeiras in 2025.
A “gray area” in the legislation allowed this rapid expansion. The scenario changed with the entry into force of Law No. 14.790/2023, in 2025, which organized the regulation of the sector and cooled the competition for advertising space. Between 2025 and 2026, four clubs broke with sponsors in the main space: Athletico Paranaense, Bahia, Grêmio, and Internacional. All remain without any brand in that space.
Ivan Martinho, a professor of Sports Marketing at ESPM, stated that the current moment is a plateau. "What continues today are contracts that were signed a year or two ago. Some clubs are already without bettors because they couldn't secure those large contracts. It's a moment, now in the post-World Cup period, where the sector is quite subdued, avoiding drawing even more attention," he declared.
Amateur football as a new frontier
The Vaidebet Amateur Football Cup illustrates the new strategy. The 2026 edition is held in four Community Clubs (CDCs) in São Paulo: Arena Xurupita, Jardim Rosana, Jardim Alvorada and Vila Ursulina. The spaces are public, with shared management between amateur clubs and the City of São Paulo, and also serve to train children and teenagers in the sport.
The competition brings together 64 clubs in four regional stages and a final four-team tournament. The prizes are R$ 10 for the regional winners and R$ 80 for the overall champion. The uniforms, printed with the bet logo, are paid for by the sponsor.
The presence of advertising banners in spaces where minors also play soccer has raised questions. The São Paulo City Hall responded that current legislation does not prohibit the display of advertising in sporting championships and that the competition featured exclusively athletes over 18 years of age.
The competition also includes a prize of R$ 10 for fan engagement, awarded to the club with the most engaged fan base, according to the company. To measure this engagement, each club receives an affiliate link from the platform.
Editions of the same competition have also been held in Maré, Rio de Janeiro, and in the cities of Campina Grande and Boqueirão, Paraíba. The event is treated as a pilot project, with plans for expansion to the ABC Paulista region and the creation of a Super Cup. Vaidebet is also the main sponsor of the Remo club, from Pará, which will compete in the elite of Brazilian football in 2026.
