TLDR
- Vitória president Fábio Mota says Brazil’s new betting restrictions are costing the club R$3 million a month.
- The club had built its budget around R$45 million in expected betting sponsorship revenue.
- Mota said the rules came in with no transition period to protect existing sponsorship contracts.
- Lost income could put the club at risk of penalties, including a transfer ban, and it owes R$15 million to Grêmio.
- Vitória is seeking new sponsors and may sell players, but Mota says other brands pay far less.
Brazilian football club Vitória is facing a large gap in its budget after the government’s new restrictions on betting, according to club president Fábio Mota.
The club is based in the state of Bahia and plays in Série A, the country’s top league. Mota said the rules took effect without any transition period for clubs or sponsors.
He said the club is now losing R$3 million every month. Vitória has had to rework its financial plans and search for other sources of income.
Why Vitória Wanted a Transition Period
Mota said a short adjustment window would have given clubs time to change their budgets. It also could have required betting companies to keep paying on existing contracts until they expired.
“In three months you could have managed a transition,” Mota said. He added that it could have been made clear to betting firms that they still had to pay their bills.
Instead, he said, the club must now rethink its entire plan while also handling contracts with other companies.
The club had prepared its budget based on R$45 million raised from betting sponsorships. Mota said Vitória now has to continue without that money.
“We are losing R$3 million a month, which is very hard to deal with,” he said. He added that the club will see what happens at the end of the Brazilian Championship.
The losses also reach advertising boards shown during match broadcasts. Mota said those boards and betting deals together total R$9 million this year.
Under the club’s existing contract, that figure would have risen to R$45 million next year. Mota said the sponsorship agreement was set to run until December 2027.
Debts and Transfer Ban Risk
Mota warned that the lost income could make it harder for Vitória to meet its financial obligations. Missed payments could lead to sanctions, including a transfer ban.
He pointed to R$15 million that Vitória owes to fellow Brazilian club Grêmio. “It becomes a bomb that could explode by December next year,” he said.
Mota listed several payments the club must keep up with. These include the CRND, a labor agreement, and the Perse program.
“If you stop paying the CRND, you get a transfer ban,” he said. He added that stopping payments on the labor agreement or Perse would also bring consequences.
“When you plan, you account for expenses and revenues,” Mota said. “We had a certain amount of revenue and lost it.”
To cover the shortfall, Vitória is looking for new commercial partners. The club is also looking to sell some of its more valuable players.
Mota said replacing the betting money will not be easy. “Nobody pays what they used to pay,” he said.
He said the betting market paid about three times more than other sponsors. For now, Vitória is working to restructure its finances without that revenue.
