Why do Brazilian clubs have so much money?

If you review South American football, you'll find that Brazilian clubs not only dominate the international scene but also have the ability to easily attract European players or players currently playing in Europe. It's also noticeable that their competitive level is quite high if we look back at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, where they demonstrated they could compete at the same level as the major powers of "the old continent". All of this leads us to ask, where does this economic power of Brazilian clubs come from?

Happy Brazilians laughing all the way to the bank

A little context

For those who aren't up to date on the latest Brazilian football news, we can tell you that the South American powerhouse has managed to become an attractive market for players not only from its own subcontinent but also from Europe. Names like Neymar, Philippe Coutinho, Thiago Silva, Lucas Moura, and Oscar, Brazilian stars of the last decade and a half, have been joined in recent years by several of the best South American talents and several great European players such as Dimitri Payet, Saúl Ñiguez, Memphis Depay, Jesé, and Martin Braithwaite, to name a few.

And it's not just about players since they have hired coaches like Abel Ferreira, Jorge Jesus, Bruno Lage, Davide Ancelotti (yes, Carlo Ancelotti's son) and Leonardo Jardim. All of this is intended to highlight how attractive Brazilian football has become for Europeans, which is why we haven't mentioned the many South American stars and managers who are also involved. This type of name participation in the Brasileirão, as the top league in Brazil is called, is possible thanks to a financial power that probably has no precedent in the history of South American football. For example, in 2025, Palmeiras paid 25 million euro to FC Barcelona for Vitor Roque, and a year earlier, Botafogo paid 24 million euro for Thiago Almada. To give a reference to what those numbers mean, in the Spanish league, between 2024 and 2025, only Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid have been able to make more expensive signings than those two.

All this investment has been reflected in the development of top teams that are considerably ahead of the rest of the CONMEBOL teams, something exemplified, for example, in the Copa Libertadores. Between 2017 and 2024, only one Libertadores final did not feature Brazilian teams: the 2018 final (Boca vs. River Plate, the second leg of which was played at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium). During that period, they won every final they contested, and it's worth noting that four of those finals were entirely between Brazilian clubs.

We can also take the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup as a reference, which serves as a measure of comparison with other confederations. In the group stage, the Brazilians accumulated 6 wins, 5 draws, and only one loss among the 4 participating teams. This defeat, which was Botafogo's against Atletico Madrid, was a defeat that was already mathematically qualified. It is also noteworthy that Botafogo defeated Paris Saint-Germain, the reigning UEFA Champions League champions, and that Flamengo defeated Chelsea 3-1, the eventual winners of the tournament. All four reached the round of 16, two reached the quarterfinals (Botafogo and Palmeiras met in the round of 16), and one reached the semifinals.

Where does the money come from?

This is the question that many readers will be asking at this point, and it's the most logical one given all the expenses incurred to bring in these players and managers. The reality is that there isn't a single source of income that allows for this expenditure; rather, it's a variety of sources that come together to make all of this possible. The first thing to mention is that Brazil is a country of more than 200 million inhabitants, the seventh largest in the world, and that it has a huge fan base for football, making it the country's main sport by far. Therefore, the clubs already have considerable income from match tickets, shirt sales, and other club merchandise.

With a large fan base and a keen interest in a football that is played year-round, as well as the Brasileirão, it also hosts state championships and the Copa do Brasil. This means that, with a good product (which they have both thanks to local talent and that brought in from abroad), television rights for Brazilian football are becoming increasingly valuable. The top 20 Brazilian clubs (those that participate in the Brasileirão) have a combined total annual revenue of just over 2 billion euro, and of that, television rights represented 50% of that revenue in 2021; now, they represent around 30%. This indicates that they were an important factor in the start of all this growth, but that the machine has continued to operate and has found other sources of income.

Endrick was sold for big money to Real Madrid

Advertising also plays a role

There are also advertising contracts, whose values have been increasing as football has provided an important showcase for their brand. For example, in 2025, Flamengo signed a sponsorship contract for the center front of its jersey worth 42 million euro per year for three years. This is surprising as it makes them the tenth such contract in the world, surpassing clubs like for example Atlético de Madrid.

Another factor to consider is that the Copa Libertadores, for example, awards the champion a little over 20 million euro just for winning the final, although it also awards prizes for advancing to the next round, which can earn the champion an average of 35 million euro. Added to this is the fact that the prize money in the Brazilian tournaments themselves is very substantial. To draw a parallel, the winner of the Copa Sudamericana receives around 10 million euro, while the winner of the Copa do Brasil receives around 15 million euro.

It's worth noting that we haven't yet discussed player sales, the missing major source of income. Brazilian clubs, being in a good financial position, have no need to sell their players, so they can negotiate from a certain position of power, which allows them to obtain significant transfer fees. Hence, to name just one team, Palmeiras, could sell two 18-year-olds, Endrick and Estêvão, for 47.5 million euro and 34 million euro, respectively. Among the 20 clubs in the Brasileirão, they average combined revenues of around 350 million euro each year from player sales alone.

Now, given what we've discussed, it's understandable that Flamengo has a higher income than any French team except PSG, which explains why it can field the top team it currently has. Although this situation, as long as it's well managed, will continue to grow, it could lead to clubs failing to control their expenses and leading to crises like those experienced by Spanish clubs in the late 1990s. This could bring regulations or rules like Financial Fair Play into play.