The Brazilian market for state championship naming rights underwent a notable rebalancing in 2026, with operators losing ground and non-betting retail brands expanding their footprint across domestic competitions.
A survey comparing commercial agreements across all 27 state federations shows that betting companies, which dominated naming rights in 2025, reduced their presence this season.
Two competitions previously sponsored by operators lost those agreements, while no new state federations signed naming-rights deals with betting brands.
In 2025, operators held naming rights in eight state championships, split across three brands.
Superbet led the segment with six deals.
In 2026, that number fell to five, with the operator failing to secure any new contracts. Betnacional and 4play.bet also exited the space after ending agreements with the federations of the Pernambuco and Goiás states, respectively.
At the same time, non-betting retail brands doubled their participation year-on-year.
Four state championships now carry retail naming rights, compared with two in 2025.
Financial institutions saw a marginal decline, dropping from seven to six competitions. Despite the contraction in naming rights, operators remain far from sidelined. Sportybet secured the naming rights for the Campeonato Alagoano 2026, standing out as an exception.
Meanwhile, brands such as Betano and Superbet continue to sponsor flagship competitions without holding naming rights.
Betano maintains its presence in Campeonato Paulista, while Superbet remains a key sponsor of the Campeonato Carioca, reinforcing how operators are reallocating budgets.
As retail brands from different sectors seek mass-market exposure through naming rights, operators increasingly prioritize shirt sponsorships, media integrations and league-wide partnerships, formats that offer scale, flexibility and regulatory resilience ahead of the 2026 season.
Betting sponsors drove a 125% increase in football shirt sponsorship deals in Brazil between 2022 and 2024
