Caixa may not renew their sponsorship deals with 25 Brazilian clubs | OneFootball

Caixa is the third largest bank in Brazil in terms of assets and one of the five largest in Latin America.

In 2018, Caixa was the shirt sponsor for 25 clubs in the Brasileirão Serie A and Serie B, investing €30m (R$127.8m) in Brazilian football.

However, Caixa have not decided whether or not they will invest in the 2019 season, leaving club leaders worried.

Smaller clubs could potentially face devastating consequences, considering Caixa’s sponsorship is the main source of their income.

New Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro announced in December, on his own account on Twitter, that he will review the bank’s advertising contracts, which includes agreements with football clubs.

The new president of Caixa, Pedro Guimarães, took office on Monday.

Caixa informed Brazilian outlet Globoesporte that “the discussion on the renewal of sponsorships is in its preliminary phase.”

Flamengo, who finished second in the Brazilian top-flight last season, received €6m (R$25m) last season, by far Caixa’s biggest investment.

Santos, Cruzeiro, Atlético-MG, and Botafogo each received roughly €2m (R$10m).

Clubs like second-division Londrina could suffer tremendously in 2019 if Caixa decides to pull their sponsorship deal.

Londrina received €350,000 (R$1.5m) from Caixa last year, while their other 11 sponsors contributed just €250,000 (R$1.1m) combined.

Londrina’s director of marketing, Marcelo Rizzo, suggests that Caixa could face consequences of their own if they do not renew, pointing to a report that states that Caixa received €4m (R$17.5m) worth of media exposure through their club’s sponsorship alone.

“A lot of people think it’s a donation, and it’s nothing like that,” said Rizzo. “It’s big publicity for Caixa, who has a very profitable return by exposing their brand with our popular club in a high-performance sport.”

In other sports, Caixa sponsors the Brazilian Confederation of Gymnastics (CBG) and the Brazilian Athletics Confederation (CBAT), in addition to the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB).

Their sponsorships expire in 2020.