Cruise may pave the way for ‘queue’ of clubs looking for owners

Upon announcing the investment of BRL 400 million to become the majority shareholder of Cruzeiro SAF, the Sociedade Anônima do Futebol created by the club from Minas Gerais to go public, Ronaldo Nazário said he hopes to initiate a movement to “break paradigms” and encourage other teams to adhere to the business model.

The expectation of the former player, who also owns Valladolid, in Spain, is to see more and more clubs in Brazil turn into companies, especially those who suffer from huge debts, such as Cruzeiro — estimates show that the club owes about R$1 billion.

The scenario in which the miners find themselves was decisive for the creation of SAF from Cruzeiro two weeks ago. On Friday (17), directors and associates approved a change in the bylaws so that up to 90% of SAF shares could be in the hands of investors. The next day, Ronaldo announced the purchase of this entire slice.

“The clubs will closely observe how Cruzeiro will behave, but their resistance to this model has decreased a lot, precisely because of the need for change, looking at a past mired in debt. Now is the time to professionalize once and for all”, says Renê Salviano , owner of the sports marketing agency HeatMap. Until January, he headed Cruzeiro’s commercial coordination and marketing and new business department.

In 2022, the celestial team will compete in the B Series of the Brazilian Championship for the third consecutive year. From the contribution made by the Phenomenon, the forecast is that around R$ 100 million will be destined to the payment of debts that belong to the association, but which also become the joint responsibility of SAF.

Commenting on the negotiation, José Berenguer, CEO of Banco XP, who brokered the agreement, stated that Botafogo will be the next to have the investment of investors in the country. The Rio club, which will return to the elite of the Brazilian in 2022, also has debts close to R$ 1 billion.

“I have no doubt that today we are starting to transform the history of national football. Cruzeiro is only the first. Other similar negotiations involving Brazilian clubs are to come. Botafogo will be next, also advised by our Investment Banking”, projected Berenguer .

Wanted by the report, the executive declined to comment on the matter. Botafogo also did not talk about the topic, but sees its project advanced.

For Pedro Trengrouse, professor at FGV and coordinator of the FGV/Fifa/CIES Executive Program in Sports Management, it is natural for clubs in more difficult financial situations to move first. “It’s a matter of survival,” he says.

“In countries where clubs were not born, companies were only transformed because they were required by law, as happened in France and Spain. In Portugal, first they made a law, like ours, trying to create incentives. There was no adherence. A few years later. , the law obliged and the clubs then structured themselves as a business”, adds Trengrouse.

Pedro Daniel, Executive Director of EY, also sees advantages for clubs with more favorable financial situations. “It is an opportunity for a strong investment in the operation. These are clubs that can change their level very quickly”, he assesses.

Among the teams that will compete in Serie A next year, Athletico and América-MG have already approved internally the adhesion to the SAF model and hope to soon announce the next steps of the deal. The miners have advanced conversations with American businessman Joseph DaGrosa. Atlético-GO, Juventude and Coritiba also have plans to join.

São Paulo is another that has a project to break up the social activities of professional football, which would become a SAF. The document has been ready since 2017 for evaluation by the board of directors, but has not yet been forwarded.

Red Bull Bragantino and Cuiabá are already company-clubs, but they adopted the model that was already in force in Brazilian legislation. In the team from São Paulo, all membership titles were purchased by the Austrian brand. The Mato Grosso team belongs to the Dresch family.

For the professor of Sports Marketing at ESPM Ivan Martinho, the trend initiated by Cruzeiro is an indication that the SAF may attract new investors to football.

“The first move was made by a national idol like Ronaldo, who already has experience in club management, and advised by a successful Brazilian company, such as XP, is great news, as it expands here as well. range of Brazilian investors willing to invest large amounts in local football,” says Martinho.

According to Pedro Daniel, this is also the ideal time for the entry of foreign investors. “Here in Brazil, we have a very favorable exchange rate issue. You can invest in a production line in Real, and your buying market is in Euros. It is much cheaper for you to buy a club and invest in a training center athletes in Brazil, which is the biggest breadbasket in the world”, says the EY executive.