October 15: Brazil’s messy betting ban saga has moved beyond club shirts and into CONMEBOL’s broadcast operation, forcing the South American confederation to change what viewers see on the pitch depending on where they’re watching.
During Vasco da Gama’s Copa Sudamericana semi-final at Boca Juniors on Tuesday, audiences elsewhere in South America were shown the Bwin brand on the pitch’s virtual scoreboards. On the Brazilian channels of ESPN and SBT, these positions showed institutional messages and sponsors such as Amstel, Midea and Coca-Cola.
Virtual overlays are nothing new. What has changed is why CONMEBOL needs them.
Brazil’s new gambling crackdown, introduced on September 25, bans the operation and advertising of fixed-odds bets across the country. Betting websites had to shut down from October 6, adding another complication to a football industry that had become heavily dependent on the industry for sponsorship revenue.
CONMEBOL has been working with the Entain gambling group since 2023. Bwin is used in Spanish-speaking South American markets, while Sportingbet has been the group’s Brazil-focused brand.
This split means Bwin can continue to receive much of the continental exposure it bought. Sportingbet’s position is considerably less direct: its target market is now one where betting promotion is prohibited.
Sportingbet has said it is assessing the implications of its CONMEBOL deal. Neither the confederation nor Entain have disclosed whether this will lead to a review of rights, compensation or changes in the value of the agreement.
It’s another side effect of legislation that has already removed some of Brazilian soccer’s richest shirt sponsorships.
Flamengo and Fluminense used their derby last weekend to protest the ban after removing the Betano and Superbet brand, while Corinthians have filled the space previously occupied by Esportes da Sorte with short-term offers from the likes of Shopee and Jota.ai.
CONMEBOL has a different problem: delivering a continental sponsorship package when one of its biggest markets no longer allows for some of the inventory.
There are also gray areas. Boca played against Vasco with Betsson still on the front of the shirt. The sponsorship was agreed in Argentina, where the operator can legally advertise, and Brazilian authorities have yet to publicly establish how far the ban extends when foreign teams carrying sponsors abroad appear on Brazilian broadcasts or play domestically.
The interim measure is still being tweaked by Congress, where 99 amendments had been tabled as of Tuesday, so the final form of the legislation is not yet fully settled.
Until it is, CONMEBOL has found a technological answer to the immediate problem. Replacing a logo on a TV channel is a refreshingly simple solution to a migraine situation, where the task is still to rework sponsorship contracts sold across an entire continent.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at (email protected)