Arab investors taking part in Brazilian football revolution

SAO PAULO: Arab investors are eyeing opportunities as Brazil’s football industry begins to undergo an organizational revolution with profound consequences for the sport and the business surrounding it.

Earlier this month, the UAE’s Mubadala Capital signed an agreement with a football league formed last year in Brazil comprising 15 clubs, including the ones with the biggest numbers of fans such as Flamengo, Corinthians and Sao Paulo.

The deal establishes that starting in 2025, those clubs will negotiate as a group their commercial and TV rights regarding the Brazilian championship. Mubadala will advise them in the process, and will have the right to buy a share of such rights.

The multimillion-dollar transaction includes two blocs – one comprising seven top-division clubs, and another comprising eight second-division clubs.

Another two leagues – one with 24 clubs and another with four – reached a similar deal with a US fund.

Such transactions will not only inject millions of dollars into the industry, allowing it to invest in infrastructure and training new talents, but will also lead to a more professional approach to management, marketing and business opportunities, experts say.

That transformation is also being catalyzed by a 2021 law that allows Brazilian clubs, which have historically been not-for-profit associations, to become corporations.

Known as the SAF law and conceived to help Brazilian clubs solve long-time financial problems with the support of private investors, it has revolutionized the industry.

“Everything is changing fast now with the SAF law and the leagues. Both elements are important drivers and will lead to an unprecedented level of professionalism, business development and international