RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Flamengo’s debut in games played in the state of Rio on Saturday, January 18th, against Macaé, with its U-20 team, will not be broadcast.
Among the 11 clubs in the state-wide competition, the red-and-black was the only one that failed to reach an agreement with Rede Globo during the negotiations of rights for open and closed TV, besides pay-per-view.
As the Pelé Law states that matches may only be broadcast with the authorization of both parties involved, Flamengo will not be allowed to broadcast its own matches or sign with another broadcaster or streaming platform.
Winner of the Brazilian Championship and the Libertadores Cup in 2019, the red-and-black team intended to receive a higher figure in relation to its rivals. In a statement, Flamengo, the current champion of the ‘Estadual” (State Championship), says that Globo offered an amount similar to the last agreement, signed in 2016 and valid for three years.
According to the club, the station did not take into account “Flamengo’s new stage and none of the points suggested by the club for a potential renewal”.
Globo lamented the situation. Without quoting figures, the station says that Flamengo’s request is much higher than that of its rivals. “So far, Flamengo’s matches will not be broadcast on any platform. We have a great interest in these rights and we are always open for dialogue, hoping to reach a satisfactory agreement for all”.
In 2016, the station had already faced resistance from Flamengo. While Fluminense, Botafogo, and Vasco, at the time, signed an agreement for the 2017 to 2024 games played in the state, Flamengo was the last to close the deal, only until the 2019 season.
To do so, they demanded that they sign and receive directly from the broadcaster, without the intermediation of the FERJ (Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation).
A report by the audit firm EY on the revenues of Rio’s four major clubs from 2009 to 2018 shows that Flamengo yielded R$1.3 billion (US$325 million) in broadcasting rights, followed by Vasco, R$762 million, Fluminense, R$720 million, and Botafogo, R$588 million.
Globo says, in its note, that not having complied with Flamengo’s requests is a sign of respect for the other teams. “We are adopting more and more models with criteria that aim at greater balance and value the sports and commercial meritocracy in the allocation of amounts, instead of differentiated values that end up resulting in pre-established inequality”.
Flamengo has tripled its revenues with television quotas since 2011. Until the previous year, clubs negotiated their TV quotas together. With the extinction of the 13 clubs that year, the teams began to negotiate individually and directly with the station.
If in 2010 Flamengo had invoiced R$44 million (updated) from TV quotas, this figure jumped to R$151 million in 2011 and reached R$169 million in 2012.
In the note announcing its disagreement for the Rio State matches, Flamengo stressed that it will “continue its partnership with the Globo Group, through the commercial contract we have for the Brazilian Championship broadcasts”.
The team’s games in the Libertadores Cup will also be broadcast by Globo, SporTV and Fox Sports.
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