By Samindra Kunti
May 31 – Brazilian broadcast giant TV Globo has fallen out with the Brazilian FA (CBF) and will not cover the national team’s two friendly fixtures in June in Australia.
Globo has long focussed significant resource on Brazilian football in what has traditionally been a very close partnership. In 2012 Globo was the second-largest commercial TV network in annual revenue worldwide just behind the US nework ABC.
But it is a relationship that looks to be souring with loss of the friendlies against Australia and Argentina in June in Melbourne. State broadcaster TV Brasil will now air the matches and has signed Pelé to its commentary team.
“CBF had plans to tender the rights for friendly matches and the World Cup qualifiers in the form of a bid (a closed auction) in 2022,” read a statement from Globo. “Recently it decided to sell the two friendly games of June in a separate way and although we do not believe that this is the best solution for all parties, we have tried to negotiate, but we have not reached an agreement.”
Globo still has the TV rights for both the World Cup qualifiers and the 2018 and 2022 World Cups respectively, but the fall out over these two friendlies is a first crack in a decades-long relationship with the CBF, who want to become more proactive in the broadcasting domain with CBF TV and their Facebook platform. Globo registered record audiences for Brazil’s qualifier against Paraguay with a market share of 38 and 39 points in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro respectively, Brazil’s two most important TV markets.
As a response, Globo dismissed its director of sports Renato Ribeiro, but the broadcaster denied that there was a direct link with failing to obtain the rights for both friendlies. The CBF wants to mount its own broadcast operation and proposed a deal to livestream the match on Facebook, something that unnerved Globo. Back in January, the CBF for the first time opened up the broadcast of a Brazil friendly when the Selecao hosted Colombia in a charity match for the victims of the Chapecoense air crash. That match was shown on multiple channels.
The expectation is that the CBF will experiment with the friendlies against Australia and Argentina to further its own broadcasting ambitions and consider different platforms and models. When Brazil coach Tite called up his 24 players in May for the friendlies, his press conference was broadcasted by Agency Radioweb, which united more than 30 radio stations. Afterwards Tite also conceded a Facebook interview to the in-house channel.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1713477215labto1713477215ofdlr1713477215owedi1713477215sni@i1713477215tnuk.1713477215ardni1713477215mas1713477215