Most fans rejected posts by Brazilian football clubs defending the betting sector.
The information comes according to a survey by consultancy Bites commissioned by O Globo.
According to the survey, posts published last week warning of a possible "end of Brazilian football" amid the Federal Government's push to tighten betting rules, drew as much as 90% negative comments on social media.
The survey analyzed posts from Flamengo, Vasco, Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos and São Paulo, with the four São Paulo clubs publishing a joint statement alongside the state football federation (FPF)
Vasco's post recorded the highest rejection rate, with 90% of comments openly opposing betting, followed by Flamengo at 86% and the joint São Paulo clubs' post at 85%.
Comments not explicitly against betting were classified as "neutral" or "other," though some of these still criticized the clubs for unrelated reasons.
Vasco's post received nearly 25,000 comments, 50% more than the next most-commented post in the previous 30 days, while Flamengo's post generated more than 55,000 responses, almost double the second-highest post in that period.
The clubs' statement, titled "The end of Brazilian football," warned of the potential impact of new betting restrictions, with many major Brazilian clubs currently sponsored by betting operators.
Enter Lula, unimpressed
Responding to the clubs, President Lula reiterated his criticism of betting during a rally in Guarulhos, a city in São Paulo.
"I've decided I'm going to end the national betting sector. Football clubs said that if I end betting, I'll end football. The Government isn't worried about losing more tax revenue. What I can't accept is losing poor people's lives to gambling.
This idea that ending betting ends football is nonsense. What we need to end is the shamelessness in Brazilian football," he concluded.
Recently, the FPF and the city's leading football clubs have separately opposed two bills that would restrict betting advertising in São Paulo
