Sports betting houses have burst into the football industry. And this is evident, with increasing frequency, in the shirts of different teams on the continent, mainly in countries like Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador. These companies or brands have been gaining space over the years.
This season, 38 of the 64 clubs that participate in the group stages of the Conmebol tournaments (Libertadores and Sudamericana) are sponsored by sports betting houses, which means 59% of the teams. Brazil leads that list with 13.
The first place in the region goes to Corinthians (which is playing the Copa Sudamericana), which maintains a contract of USD 23 million per year with Vai de Bet, one of the largest sports betting houses in Brazil.
Sponsorships of betting houses in Libertadores clubs
*For this calculation, the 32 teams that play in the Libertadores group stage are considered.
The other three federations that receive sponsorship from betting houses are: Peru (Te Apuesta), Colombia (BetPlay) and Ecuador (Ecuabet). While Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela and Paraguay do not have betting house sponsorships.
Chile, Uruguay, and Bolivia reject sports betting.
These three countries have 16 clubs in the Conmebol tournaments in 2024. In the case of Chile, the Government of Gabriel Boric, through the Ministry of Justice, ordered the teams to break their contracts with betting houses, something that put football in that country in check.
This followed a ruling by the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court, which declared online betting illegal for not complying with local regulations. For this reason, the National Professional Football Association (ANFP) announced, in October 2023, the end of its contract with Betsson, the betting house that sponsored the First Division championship.
However, other sports betting houses such as CoolBet continued to operate, considering that such a ban is not contemplated in the law. This brand maintains a millionaire contract of USD 6 million for two seasons with Colo-Colo.
Other brands that fought the regulations and remain in Chilean soccer are: RojaBet, sponsor of Cobresal, Palestino and Coquimbo Unidos and novibet, with Huachipato.
