January 20 – Flamengo’s curtain raiser in the Rio state championship, a 0-0 draw with Macae on Saturday, was not broadcast after the club and TV Globo failed to reach a rights agreement.
On the back of Flamengo’s remarkable 2019 season, winning both the national crown and the Copa Libertadores, the Rio giants believed they were entitled to renegotiating the rights deal for the local state championship with Brazilian broadcaster Globo. However Globo failed to meet Flamengo’s demands to “maintain the balance between, and respect of, the other clubs.”
Flamengo argued that “the new phase of the team” should be taken into consideration and demanded a higher fee from Globo.
“Flamengo notifies that due to the termination of its contract with Grupo Globo for the transmission of the Carioca Championship and the position of the broadcaster to only renew it, maintaining exactly the same commercial conditions agreed in 2016, not taking into account the new phase of Flamengo and none of the points suggested by the club for a possible renewal, the games of our professional football team in Carioca 2020 will not be broadcast on Globo’s open channels, on SporTV on pay TV and on the Premiere channel,” wrote the club in a statement.
The club’s president Rodolfo Landim argued that Flamengo received the same fee as Fluminense, Vasco da Gama and Botaofo, Rio de Janeiro’s other three major clubs, but is bigger than those three clubs combined.
“This contract is an old one, from 2016, signed and based on other principles,” said Landim. “Flamengo was on another level. This has changed a lot over the years. On the other hand, we monitor audience ratings. We can guarantee that more than half of the subscribers buy Carioca subscription because of Flamengo. The percentage offered in this contract is equal to that of the other three big ones. Flamengo alone is bigger in terms of demands than the other three combined. It is much lower than what we think the club deserves.”
Globo reacted that the amount requested by Flamengo was disproportional in relation to the contract that runs for all clubs until 2024. The broadcaster stated that it uses models “with criteria that aim for greater balance and respect with all participating teams.”
The lack of agreement has impacted other clubs. The 12 smaller clubs in the Rio state championship look set to lose about € 3.9 million. The three other major Rio clubs’ TV income has been protected.
And so, on Saturday, Flamengo’s first game of the new season was not broadcast. The national champions failed to defeat Macae in a goalless match. Flamengo had rested their first-team players, who are still on holiday following last month’s Club World Cup in Doha.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1713549837labto1713549837ofdlr1713549837owedi1713549837sni@o1713549837fni1713549837