Association football league in Brazil
Not to be confused with Serie AFootball league
The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɐ̃pjoˈnatu bɾaziˈlejɾu ˈsɛɾii ˈa]; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (pronounced [bɾazilejˈɾãw]; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Brazilian professional league for men's football clubs.
At the top of the Brazilian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition.
Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B.
In 2021 the competition was chosen by the IFFHS as the strongest national league in South America as well as the strongest in the world.[1]
Due to historical peculiarities and the large geographical size of the country, Brazil has a relatively short history of nationwide football competitions.
Only in 1959, with the advancements in civil aviation and air transport and the need to appoint a Brazilian representative to the first edition of the Copa Libertadores was a nationwide tournament created, Taça Brasil.
In 1967, the Torneio Rio-São Paulo was expanded to include teams from other states, becoming the Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, which was also considered a national tournament.
The first tournament downright called a national championship was held in 1971, although it was only referred to as "Campeonato Brasileiro" starting in 1989.
In 2010, the champions of national tournaments from 1959 to 1970-Taça Brasil and Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa-have been declared official winners of the Brazilian championship or champions of Brazil (not winners of Brasileirão or Série A) by the Brazilian Football Confederation.
[2] The titles of old tournaments, cited in the Brazilian championship history, are equated to the title of Série A, but the tournaments are cataloging with their original name in the statistics[3] (despite being different competitions, they confer the same title).[4][5]
The Campeonato Brasileiro is one of the strongest leagues in the world; it contains the second-most club world champions titles, with 10 championships won among six clubs, and the second-most Copa Libertadores titles, with 20 titles won among 10 clubs.
The IFFHS ranked the league fourth in strength for the 2001–12 period after the Premier League (England), La Liga (Spain), and Serie A (Italy).
[6] The Campeonato Brasileiro is the most-watched football league in the Americas and one of the world's most exposed, broadcast in 155 nations.
It is also one of the world's richest championships, ranked as the sixth most valuable with a worth of over US$1.
43 billion, generating an annual turnover of over US$1.17 billion in 2012.
Since 1959, a total of 156 clubs have played in the Campeonato Brasileiro.
[7] Seventeen clubs have been crowned Brazilian football champions, thirteen of which have won the title more than once.
Palmeiras is the most successful club of the Campeonato Brasileiro, having won the competition eleven times, followed by Santos with eight titles, and Corinthians and Flamengo with seven titles each.
Santos' Os Santásticos won five consecutive titles between 1961 and 1965, a feat that remains unequalled.
The state of São Paulo is the most successful, amassing 32 titles among five clubs.
History [ edit ]
The Taça Brasil trophy.
The Taça Brasil was introduced in 1959,[8] and ran until 1968.
[9] The Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa was competed for between 1967 and 1970.
In 2010 the CBF announced that these were to be regarded as Brazilian championships.[10]
In 1968, the delay in closing the 1968 Taça Brasil made CBD use the Robertão to determine the Libertadores representatives.
With the extinction of the Taça Brasil, the Robertão, officially named by CBD as "Taça de Prata" (Silver Cup) remained the top Brazilian championship the following two years.[11]
Following Brazil's third world title at the 1970 FIFA World Cup, president Emílio Médici decided to better organize Brazilian football.
In a reunion with the CBD and the club presidents in October 1970, it was decided to create the following year a Brazilian championship contested by twenty teams, inspired by the national tournaments in the European nations.
The first edition of the named "Campeonato Nacional" ("National Championship"), was held in 1971.
[12] The top division was named "Divisão Extra" (Extra Division), while a newly created second division earned the "Primeira Divisão" (First Division) name.[13]
In 1987, CBF announced it was not able to organize the Brazilian football championship, a mere few weeks before it was scheduled to begin.
As a result, the thirteen most popular football clubs in Brazil created a league, The Clube dos 13, to organize a championship of their own.
This tournament was called Copa União and was run by the 16 clubs that eventually took part in it (Santa Cruz, Coritiba and Goiás were invited to join).
CBF initially stood by the Club of the 13 decision.
However, weeks later, with the competition already underway, and under pressure from football clubs excluded from the Copa União, CBF adopted a new set of rules, which considered the Copa União part of a larger tournament, comprising another 16 teams.
According to that new set of rules, the Copa União would be dubbed the Green Module of the CBF championship, whereas the other 16 teams would play the Yellow Module.
In the end, the first two teams of each Module would play each other to define the national champions and the two teams that would represent Brazil in the Copa Libertadores in 1988.
However, that new set of rules was never recognized by the Club of the 13 and largely ignored by most of the Brazilian media, who concentrated their attention in the independent league, eventually won by Clube de Regatas do Flamengo.
The eventual final tourney was set to have Sport and Guarani, from the yellow module, and Flamengo and Internacional from the green one.
It never materialized, however, as Flamengo and Internacional refused to partake in it.
As a result, Sport and Guarani played each other, with the first one winning the Championship for 1987 and both going on to represent Brazil in the Copa Libertadores in 1988.
Although Flamengo has attempted to gain ownership of the championship multiple times through the justice system, Sport remains recognized by both CBF and FIFA as 1987 Champions.
[14][15] Popularly, Flamengo is considered the only Brazilian Champion of 1987, as it faced clubs at the level of the first division of the national championship.[16]
In 2010, CBF decided to recognize the champions of both Taça Brasil (1959–68) and Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa (1967–70) as Brazilian Champions, creating some controversy as there was a two-year period when both tournaments were held, thus Palmeiras was awarded two times for winning both in 1967 and both Santos and Botafogo were recognized as champions in 1968 as each tournament was won by one of them.
[4] The CBF's decision was strangely received by Brazilian soccer fans when many supporters understood that it was a political decision.
Competition format [ edit ]
Competition [ edit ]
There are 20 clubs in the Brasileirão.
During the course of a season (from May to December) each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 38 games.
Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw.
No points are awarded for a loss.
Teams are ranked by total points, victories, goal difference, and goals scored.
At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion.
If points are equal between two or more clubs, the rules are:[17]
If the tie is between more than two clubs not competing for the national title or relegation, then the tie is broken using the results of the games the clubs have played against each other (head to head points and goals difference).
If the tie is still not broken, the winner will be determined by Fair Play scales.
e) fewest yellow cards f) fewest red cards
If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, the Fair Play scales will not be taken into account; a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank.
Otherwise, a drawing of lots will determine the final positions.
A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Brasileirão and the Série B.
The four lowest placed teams in the Brasileirão are relegated to Série B, and the top four teams from the Série B promoted to the Brasileirão.
Qualification for international competitions [ edit ]
Since 2016, the top six clubs in the Brasileirão qualify for the following Copa Libertadores.
The top four clubs directly enter the group stage whilst the fifth and sixth-placed clubs enter in the second round.
The number of teams qualifying for the Libertadores may increase depending on who wins the Copa do Brasil, Copa Sudamericana or Copa Libertadores.
Clubs from seventh to twelfth place qualify for the following Copa Sudamericana, although as above the numbers can depend on other competitions.
Champions [ edit ]
Seventeen clubs are officially recognized to have been the Brazilian football champions.
In bold those competing in Série A as of 2023 season.
Note: although everyone consider Flamengo as champion of the Brazilian Championship in 1987, "officially", Sport is the only champion of this competition.
The Campeonato Brasileiro had its official name changed often before settling on Campeonato Brasileiro in 1989.[18]
Identity English name Years Official Sponsor Taça Brasil Brazil Cup 1959–1968 None Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa Roberto Gomes Pedrosa Tournament 1967–1970 Campeonato Nacional National Championship 1971–1973 Copa Brasil Brazil Cup 1974–1979, 1984, 1986 Taça de Ouro Golden Cup 1980–1983, 1985 Copa Brasil Brazil Cup* 1987–88 Copa João Havelange João Havelange Cup 2000 Campeonato Brasileiro Brazilian Championship 1989–1999, 2001– 2001: LATAM (Brasileirão TAM)
2002: Visa (Troféu VISA Electron)
2005: Nestlé (Taça Nestlé Brasileirão)[19]
2009–2012: Petrobras (Brasileirão Petrobras)[20][21]
2014–2017: Chevrolet (Brasileirão Chevrolet)[22][23]
2018–: Assaí Atacadista (Brasileirão Assaí)[24]
The official name was Copa Brasil (Brazil Cup), but it became known as Copa União (Union Cup).
Finances [ edit ]
The Brasileirão had total club revenues of US$1.17 billion in 2012.
This makes the Brasileirão the highest revenue football league in the Americas, and the highest outside of Europe's "big five."[25]
The Brasileirão is also one of the world's most valuable football leagues, having a marketing value and worth over US$1.24 billion in 2013.
[26] The total worth of every club in the 2013 Brasileirão is US$1.07 billion.[27]
The Brasileirão's television rights were worth over US$610 million in 2012; that accounts for over 57% of Latin America as a whole.[28]
In 2013 Corinthians was the 16th most valuable club in the world, worth over US$358 million.
[29] As of 2021, no Brazilian club enters the list of the most valuable football clubs.[30]Clubs [ edit ]
The following 20 clubs are competing in the Série A during the 2023 season.
a: Unrelegated clubs
b: Clubs that never played outside the top division
Most appearances [ edit ]As of 2023 season
Below is the list of clubs that have more appearances in the Campeonato Brasileiro.
There are 157 teams that have taken part in 10 Taça Brasil, 4 Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa and 52 Campeonato Brasileiro editions.
The teams in bold compete in Série A currently.
The year in parentheses represents the most recent year of participation at this level.
Clubs relegated from Série A [ edit ]Taça de Ouro era
Clubs are relegated from Taça de Ouro to Taça de Prata of the same year, likewise happens today in international club competitions (3rd place of Copa Libertadores to Copa Sudamericana knock-out playoff).
The last place of each group and the four clubs that lost in the repechage play-off were sent to the dispute of Taça de Prata.[31][32]Copa União
Year Clubs 1987 Santos, Corinthians
According to the regulation, The 15th (Santos) and 16th (Corinthians) placed teams would play the 1988 Second Level.
[33] However, the Clube dos 13, organizer of the Copa União, and the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol, put an end to the litigation between the associations, and the 1988 championship was again organized entirely by the CBF, making the relegations invalid.[34]
Knock-out tournament
Round-robin tournament
All-time Campeonato Brasileiro table (1959–2019) [ edit ]
The All-time Campeonato Brasileiro table is an overall record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in the Brazilian League since its inception in 1959.
The table is accurate as of the end of the 2019 season.
Teams in bold are part of the 2023 season.[42][43]
Team Pts GP W D L GF GA GD 1 São Paulo 2366 1462 647 425 390 2169 1546 +623 2 Cruzeiro 2319 1486 638 405 444 2141 1688 +453 3 Santos 2311 1486 633 414 432 2202 1655 +547 4 Grêmio 2300 1475 632 404 439 1973 1549 +416 5 Internacional 2287 1443 628 403 401 1947 1480 +467 6 Corinthians 2280 1444 619 423 402 1908 1509 +399 7 Palmeiras 2271 1390 629 384 377 2042 1498 +544 8 Flamengo 2245 1470 609 418 443 2014 1667 +347 9 Atlético Mineiro 2243 1458 612 407 439 2100 1715 +385 10 Fluminense 1993 1407 539 391 477 1867 1692 +175 11 Vasco da Gama 1979 1371 521 416 434 1889 1656 +233 12 Botafogo 1867 1348 493 388 467 1711 1644 +67 13 Athletico Paranaense 1614 1155 435 309 411 1513 1415 +98 14 Goiás 1408 1052 372 292 388 1359 1352 +7 15 Coritiba 1398 1039 371 285 383 1228 1233 –5 16 Bahia 1387 1054 351 334 369 1178 1259 –81 17 Sport Recife 1270 967 334 268 367 1135 1195 –60 18 Vitória 1289 986 324 317 294 1198 1386 –189 19 Guarani 1055 725 279 218 228 918 812 +106 20 Portuguesa 1044 795 264 252 279 961 965 –4
Campeonato Brasileiro table from 1971 to 1979[ citation needed ] Pos Team GP W D L Pts 1 Internacional 122 66 38 18 188 2 Grêmio 122 63 38 21 176 3 Palmeiras 120 61 41 18 174 4 Corinthians 121 58 46 17 173 5 Cruzeiro 121 56 47 18 171 6 Atlético Mineiro 121 58 36 27 168 7 Flamengo 122 59 32 31 164 8 São Paulo 121 54 43 24 163 9 Vasco da Gama 121 41 27 158 750 10 Botafogo 120 44 49 27 147
Campeonato Brasileiro table from 1980 to 1989[ citation needed ] Pos Team GP W D L Pts 1 Flamengo 228 112 70 46 308 2 Vasco da Gama 214 101 64 49 287 3 Atlético Mineiro 209 100 67 42 281 4 São Paulo 206 98 65 43 274 5 Grêmio 216 95 65 56 267 6 Fluminense 203 203 87 61 248 7 Santos 201 82 67 52 241 8 Internacional 199 77 65 57 237 9 Corinthians 201 79 65 57 234 10 Cruzeiro 179 67 62 50 205
Campeonato Brasileiro table from 1990 to 1999[ citation needed ] Pos Team GP W D L Pts 1 Palmeiras 235 123 59 53 368 2 Corinthians 235 106 65 64 329 3 Santos 235 99 67 69 320 4 São Paulo 235 98 64 73 305 5 Atlético Mineiro 224 90 63 71 300 6 Vasco da Gama 225 86 70 69 297 7 Cruzeiro 218 86 57 75 282 8 Flamengo 231 85 64 82 280 9 Botafogo 225 87 58 80 276 10 Internacional 217 80 62 75 274
Campeonato Brasileiro table from 2000 to 2009[ citation needed ] Pos Team GP W D L Pts 1 São Paulo 365 185 95 85 650 2 Santos 368 162 92 114 578 3 Cruzeiro 362 167 73 122 574 4 Internacional 362 161 81 120 564 5 Athletico Paranaense 366 151 85 130 538 6 Fluminense 368 140 104 124 524 7 Flamengo 362 139 94 129 511 8 Palmeiras 316 134 78 104 480 9 Grêmio 325 132 77 116 473 10 Corinthians 330 126 85 119 463
Campeonato Brasileiro table from 2010 to 2019[ citation needed ] Pos Team GP W D L Pts 1 Corinthians 380 170 113 97 623 2 Grêmio 380 174 100 106 622 3 Flamengo 380 161 111 108 594 4 São Paulo 380 163 101 116 590 5 Santos 380 163 99 118 588 6 Atlético Mineiro 380 160 93 127 573 7 Cruzeiro 380 158 98 124 572 8 Fluminense 380 153 94 133 553 9 Palmeiras 342 145 89 108 524 10 Internacional 342 140 96 106 516
Media coverage [ edit ]
Value of television rights Season(s) Price 1987–89 $3.
4 million Globo 1990–94 not available Globo 1994–96 $31.
4 million Globo 1997–2003 $50 million Globo 2003–05 $390 million Globo 2005–08 $900 million Globo 2009–11 R$1.
9 billion Globo 2012–15 R$2.
96 billion[44] Globo 2016–19 R$4.
11 billion[45] Globo
Currently, the money of television represent a significant share in the finances of clubs in Brazil.
The league broadcasting rights are total exclusivity of Grupo Globo, which distributes the live matches for its television stations: TV Globo (terrestrial and satellite), SporTV (pay), and the Premiere FC (through the system pay-per-view), where subscribers have the privilege to follow all 380 annual league matches.
Globo, first cited, displays the League first time in 1987, when was created the Clube dos 13, trading tool of clubs with the television.
The first television contract was negotiated in 1987, with only conveying the Green Module of the Copa União, organized by the Clube dos 13, the television rights were sold for $3.
4 million to Rede Globo.
[46][47] And only with the conveying of the championship final, SBT broadcast the game instead,[48] a blow to the Rede Globo, who says today that the Green Module would be the league itself, and then was prevented from entering the Ilha do Retiro.
[49][50][51] In 1990, only Rede Bandeirantes acquired the broadcast rights.
This edition marked the first national title of Corinthians, second most popular team in the country.
Both the final transmission, as the other games, attracted the attention of the public, causing the network to acquire an Ibope Rating of 53 points in the deciding game.
[52] This led to the Rede Globo prioritize the League from the next edition, in 1991.[52]
In 1997, began to be restricted games live in cities where the matches are held (except finals).
The Clube dos 13 closed the contract with Rede Globo's television rights as the holder of the Brasileirão for $50 million (including editions of 1998 and 1999), and resolves itself split the rights with Rede Bandeirantes during this period.
It was the first edition to be shown on pay-per-view (via Premiere).
[53] In addition, the first games shown on pay television were courtesy of SporTV, after a controversial signing contract of Clube dos 13 with Globosat.
Previously, in 1993, the Club of the 13 an CBF had signed a contract with TVA, a company in which ESPN Brazil was part.
However, that decision was declined.[54]
In 2000, the broadcasting rights of the Copa João Havelange, organized by the Clube dos 13, were sold to Rede Globo for $50 million.
However, the final of this competition in 2001, was marked by an unusual situation.
Vasco da Gama, a finalist against São Caetano, graced the logo of SBT, the second largest television station of Brazil, a direct rival to Globo.
This situation was somewhat embarrassing for Globo, which transmitted the final exclusively, and which was seen by an estimated audience of 60 million people.
[55] Despite the large number of spectators in the final match, this edition was marked by low ratings, what did the Rede Globo to cancel the broadcast of a few matches.[56]
In 2001, Clube dos 13 defines four divisions of transmission quota, with Corinthians, São Paulo, Palmeiras, Flamengo and Vasco in group 1, Santos in group 2, Fluminense, Botafogo, Atlético Mineiro, Cruzeiro, Internacional and Grêmio in group 3, and Bahia, Goiás, Sport Recife, Portuguesa, Coritiba, Athletico Paranaense, and Vitória in group 4.
[57] In 2003, the value was expanded by a considerable amount, for the first time surpassing the three digits, after the adoption of the new format of accrued points.
The contract of $130 million per year was signed again by TV Globo.
[58] In 2005, C13 renews with Globo for the 2006–09 period in a deal worth $300 million.[59]
In 2009, for the first time, the sale of broadcasting rights of the Brazilian Championship were made via open bidding.
Media organisations were invited to bid for TV packages open, closed, PPV, internet and broadcast abroad.
[60] Rede Globo subsequently won the largest TV contract in the history of Brazilian football; $1.
4 billion for 2009–2011.[61]
In the early part of 2011, the majority of Clube dos 13 indicated they would be negotiating the 2012–2014 league rights independently.
[62][63][64][65][66]
In 2012, the final league rights amounts are uncertain.
However, it is known that the clubs were divided into four groups: Group 1: Flamengo and Corinthians receiving 84 to 120 million reals; Group 2: São Paulo, Palmeiras, Santos and Vasco receiving 70 to 80 million reais; Group 3: Gremio, Cruzeiro, Atlético Mineiro VAR, Fluminense and Botafogo (45 to 55 million reais); Group 4: other first division clubs (18 to 30 million reais).[67]
In 2013, SporTV made a deal with Fox Sports, giving up the rights of Campeonato Brasileiro in exchange for live coverage of the Copa Libertadores.[68]
In 2016, Bandeirantes ended the partnership with Globo and ceased showing league matches, leaving Globo with exclusive rights.
[69] However, the channel of Turner Group, Esporte Interativo made a deal with Atlético-PR, Bahia, Ceará, Coritiba, Internacional, Joinville, Paysandu, Sampaio Corrêa, Santos, Criciúma, Fortaleza, Paraná, Ponte Preta and Santa Cruz for the broadcasting rights on cable television between 2019 and 2024, opposing Globo's SporTV channel.
A decision on whether Palmeiras will be joining these teams is awaited.[70]
In February 2021 the streaming service Paramount+ announced it will broadcast 350 matches[71]
Flamengo and Corinthians, the two most supported teams in Brazil, receive approximately 25% (1/4) of all revenue from television.
[72] Flamengo has the biggest budget, (R$115.
1 million), and Figueirense the smallest (R$18.5 million).
[73]Match ball [ edit ]
Since 1999 the Brazilian league's oficial ball has been manufactured by Nike, Before this exclusive supply of balls, some brands like Umbro and Topper had supplied balls for the championship.
The most recend ball it's called CBF Nike Brasil Flight 2023, Being based on Nike Flight ball's model of the 2023 season
2019 Nike Merlin CBFAttendance [ edit ]
The audience of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A is low if put into consideration the popularity of football in the country.
Since the first data record, in 1967, each year the average attendance has fluctuated, more down than up, having the season of 1983 as the largest, averaging 22,953, and 2004 as the smallest, with a very low average of 7,556.
[74] The league is the second largest in attendance in South America, behind Argentina, with 18,817.
In comparison to other football league attendance, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A figure only in fourteenth position, being overcome by the lower divisions in England and Germany.
The smallest attendance ever was a game between Juventude and Portuguesa in 1997 with 55 fans, the largest was Flamengo and Santos in 1983 with 155,523.[75]
The attendance of 2014 season was 16,337 with average occupation of 40%.
[76] In this same year, the average price of the ticket was $12.
82, taking the games with an average income of $204,799.[77]
The spectator figures for the league since 2009:Players [ edit ]
Player records [ edit ]Notes:
All players are Brazilian unless otherwise noted,
Italics denotes players still playing professional football, and bold denotes players still playing in the Brazilian Série A.[82]
denotes players still playing professional football, and denotes players still playing in the Brazilian Série A.
Sources: Placar magazine - Guia do Brasileirão 2010[83] and GloboEsporte.com Website.[84]
Assists per season [ edit ]
2019 - Arrascaeta (Flamengo ) 14
Awards and trophies [ edit ]
Prêmio Craque do Brasileirão is the league's official award.
Placar magazine's Bola de Ouro is the oldest award, while the Troféu Osmar Santos and the Troféu João Saldanha are awards given by the newspaper Lance!.
See also [ edit ]
