How much will Covid-19 cost Brazilian football?

Welcome back to the Brazil Sports newsletter. Continuing the theme of looking back at historic moments in Brazilian football, I write a love letter to my favorite match of all time. Elsewhere, the billionaire hit facing the country’s football clubs, forced to down tools amid the Covid-19 pandemic. If you have any Enjoy your read!

BRL 1.1 billion: the Covid-19 bill for Brazilian football

In recent weeks, we have discussed the financial chaos set to ensue among Brazil’s professional football sides as a result of the Covid-19 stoppage. With the exact ramifications still unclear, sports financing consultancy Sports Value has predicted that the interruption of matches will result in a combined hit of BRL 1.1 billion to the revenue of the country’s 100 largest clubs.

Crunching the numbers. The most obvious loss will come in gate receipts. With no matches taking place, there is no way to sell tickets. Even once football resumes, there is every likelihood that matches will be played behind closed doors for some time. As a result, season ticket programs will also suffer — a crucial source of income for elite clubs in the 2010s.

• Elsewhere, broadcasters and sponsors are beginning to walk away from the game, as we reported in recent weeks. Furthermore, this BRL 1.1 billion figure doesn’t even factor in the loss of revenue from player transfers, with many clubs only managing to stay afloat by selling footballers to Europe and Asia.

No-one is safe. There was a belief that some sides — such as Flamengo, Palmeiras, and Corinthians — would be able to weather the storm thanks to their increased cash flow. However, national champions Flamengo recently took out a BRL 50 million loan from Santander bank, justifying it as a “safety mattress,” due to delays in payments from sponsors. If Flamengo has to resort to that...