Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

Genesis

As Brazilian football became more established in the 1920s, interest in interstate competition grew. The first of these competitions, the Campeonato Brasileiro de Seleções Estaduais, was first disputed in 1922 which brought together state football teams; the inaugural winner of the competition was São Paulo. Citing the difficulties in bringing together players from various clubs, clubs from the Rio de Janeiro Federal District and São Paulo opted to pit their best clubs against each other instead. The Torneio Rio-São Paulo, first disputed in 1933 and seeing further editions canceled due to low interest, became the optimal choice of interstate tournaments. This led the State Football team competition, a tournament that was disputed almost uninterrupted until 1950, lose much of its prestige. Five more editions later, the competition was scrapped with a celebratory one being disputed in 1987.

The Torneio Rio-São Paulo's, whose inaugural winners were Palestra Itália, kicked off again in 1950 with Corinthians winning the title. Five more Paulista sides won the competition afterwards until Fluminense broke São Paulo's streak in 1957. Vasco's Expresso da Vitória added a second title to Rio in 1958. That same year, the South American football confederation approved the creation of the Copa Libertadores, a competition for the national champions of each South American league. In light of this, the Brazilian Football Confederation created a competition that brought every Brazilian state champion to compete for a national tournament, being named Taça Brasil de Futebol.

Beginnings: Os Santásticos' legacy (1959–1970)

The 1959 Taça Brasil, the first national club competition in the nation, had 16 participants. The final series between Santos and Bahia needed a tie-breaking playoff to decide the title with Bahia winning. The second edition of the competition saw Bahia dethroned by Fortaleza in the second stage. Fortaleza would go on to reach the final only to be defeated by Palmeiras.

Santos became the first club to retain the Brazilian national title in 1962, defeating Botafogo 5-0 in front of 70,324 spectators at the Maracanã Stadium. Os Santásticos managed to win their third, consecutive title after defeating Bahia, this time with an 8-0 aggregate with Pelé responsible for four of those goals. A hat-trick from Pelé helped Santos defeat Flamengo 4-1 in the first leg of the 1964 Taça Brasil final at the Pacaembu Stadium. Santos was able to grind out a 0-0 draw in Rio de Janeiro, retaining the trophy again. Santos' record Pentacampeonato was achieved in 1965. With a brace from Dorval and Toninho, Santos ran out the winners on both legs of the final against a talented Vasco squad composed of young prospects, winning 6-1 on aggregate. Santos reached their sixth consecutive final in 1966; however, they fell short as Cruzeiro thumped Santos 9-4 on aggregate.

As a result of the violence practiced often in the Copa Libertadores by Argentine and Uruguayan clubs, disagreements with CONMEBOL, the lack of financial incentives and the violent, brutal and controversial way the Brazilian national team was treated in the 1966 FIFA World Cup by European teams, Brazilian football, including its clubs, declined to participate in international competition, including the Copa Libertadores and, ergo, the European/South American Cup, from 1966 to 1970; the 1966, 1969 and 1970 editions saw no Brazilian teams participating while Santos declined to participate in 1967.

In order to take advantage of the exposure its clubs had, the Rio-São Paulo was expanded to include teams from the other states. The Rio-São Paulo started being called by its official name, Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa (after the late Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, former president of the São Paulo state football federation who was also goalkeeper of São Paulo FC), nicknamed 'Robertão', to showcase this expanded nature to a nationwide tournament in the 1967 edition. The following year, the delay in closing the 1968 Taça Brasil made CBD use the Robertão to determine the Libertadores representants. 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.

The Brasileirão's establishment (1971–1980)

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. The top division was named "Divisão Extra" (Extra Division), while a newly created second division earned the "Primeira Divisão" (First Division) name.

In 1979, all big clubs from São Paulo, except Palmeiras, withdrew from the competition. They protested against the odd system of tier qualification, which made their rivals, Palmeiras and Guarani, enter only in the final phase (due to their being previous-year finalists) and also asked for the same privileges. Guarani finished in the top 12, while playing only 3 games, and Palmeiras finished third, despite playing only 5 games, in a tournament with 96 entrants.

A Tempestuous decade (1981–1990)

In 1984, Juventus, a small club from São Paulo, managed to qualify for the Série A. Participants during that year could be promoted from and relegated to Série B in the middle of the tournament. Juventus thus started the tournament in the premiership, was relegated in the middle of the tournament, but eventually managed to clinch the Série B title.

In 1987, the 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). The 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, the 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 which was set to be Sport Club of Recife vs Flamengo never materialized, with Flamengo refusing to partake in the final. As a result, Sport won the Championship for 1987 and went 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.

In 1999, an average relegation system was adopted, similar to the one used in the Primera División Argentina. The two clubs with the worst point results in the first stage of the two previous seasons were to be relegated. However, this system only lasted for a single season.

An era of growth (2001–2010)

Since 2003, Série A has been contested in a double round-robin format, with the team with the most points champions. For the 2006 season, the number of contestants was reduced to 20, and the bottom four are relegated to Série B. In 2006, a limit on the number of foreign players was set, so no team can have more than three foreign players on the field or on the bench in a single match.

In 2010, CBF decided to recognize the champions of the defunct Taça Brasil and Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa 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.

Competition

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:

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

The top four teams in the Brasileirão qualify for the Copa Libertadores. The top three teams directly enter the group stage. The fourth-placed team enters the Copa Libertadores at the play-off round for non-champions and must win a two-legged knockout tie to enter the group stage. One Copa Libertadores place is reserved for the winner of the Copa do Brasil. If the winner of the Copa do Brasil finishes the Brasileirão season between first and fourth place, the next-best placed finisher in the Brasileirão takes the vacant slot, "replacing" the one given by the domestic cup.

In qualifying for the Copa Sudamericana, the clubs eliminated during the Copa do Brasil's fourth phase are ranked by their record in the Brasileirão, determining the participants for the Copa Sudamericana. If the Brasileirão contains the defending champion(s) of the Copa Libertadores and/or Copa Sudamericana and they finish the Brasileirão in an international qualification zone, that place goes to the next-best placed team in the league.

Brazilian clubs who win the forementioned competitions have the opportunity to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup, the premier club competition in the world, the Recopa Sudamericana, which pits the winners of the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana against each other, as well as the Suruga Bank Championship against the Japanese J. League Cup champion.

Champions

Seventeen clubs are officially recognized to have been the Brazilian football champions.

Nomenclature and sponsorship

The Campeonato Brasileiro had its official name changed often before settling on Campeonato Brasileiro in 1989.

Finances

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."

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. The total worth of every club in the 2013 Brasileirão is US $1.07 billion.

The Brasileirão's television rights were worth over US $610 million in 2012; that accounts for over 57% of Latin America as a whole.

Corinthians is the 16th most valuable club in the world in 2013, worth over US $358 million.

Clubs

The following 20 clubs are competing in the Série A during the 2016 season.

^a: Unrelegated clubs
^b: Clubs that never played outside the top division

Media coverage

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: Rede Globo (terrestrial an 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. And only with the conveying of the championship final, SBT broadcast the game instead, 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. 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 acquired an Ibope Rating of 53 points in the deciding game. This led to the Rede Globo prioritize the League from the next edition, in 1991.

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). 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.

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. 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.

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, Atlético Paranaense, and Vitória in group 4. 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. In 2005, C13 renews with Globo for the 2006–09 period in a deal worth $300 million.

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. Rede Globo subsequently won the largest TV contract in the history of Brazilian football ;$1.4 billion for 2009–2011.

In the early part of 2011, the majority of Clube dos 13 indicated they would be negotiating the 2012–2014 league rights independently.

In 2012, the final league rights amounts are uncertain. However, I t 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, Fluminense and Botafogo (45 to 55 million reais); Group 4: other first division clubs (18 to 30 million reais).

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.

In 2016, Bandeirantes ended the partnership with Globo and ceased showing league matches, leaving Globo with exclusive rights. 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.

Flamengo and Corinthians, the two most supported teams in Brazil, receive approximately 25% (1/4) of all revenue from television. Flamengo has the biggest budget, (R$115.1 million), and Figueirense the smallest (R$18.5 million).

Attendance

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. The league is the second largest in attendance in South America, behind Argentina, with 18,817.

In a most obtrusive comparison, with other leagues of football, 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.

The attendance of 2014 season was 16,337 with average occupation of 40%. In this same year, the average price of the ticket was R$32.80, taking the games with an average income of R$524.081.

The spectator figures for league for the last seven seasons:

Player records

Notes:

Awards and trophies

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!.