Band drops Saudi Pro League broadcast after Brazil betting ban cuts sponsorship revenue

Brazil’s Band has suspended its Saudi Pro League broadcast contract after the country’s ban on betting operators wiped out the sponsorship behind the deal. For high-risk operators, the takeaway is blunt: when a broadcast package is underwritten by bets money, a regulatory switch can kill both the media inventory and the commercial model overnight.

1. Band ended its transmission deal for the Saudi Pro League, which had been the only foreign league it showed on free-to-air TV. The broadcaster had planned to air Al Hilal vs. Al Ittihad on Saturday, 10/10, but canceled the match about 24 hours before kickoff.
2. According to Gabriel Vaquer of F5 at Folha de S.Paulo, the suspension was triggered by Brazil’s ban on betting operators. A betting brand had been sponsoring Band’s coverage of the tournament, and without that revenue the broadcaster could no longer make the games financially viable.
3. The package had covered more than 70 matches in total, split between free-to-air television and BandSports, the sports channel owned by Grupo Bandeirantes on pay TV. So this was not a one-off rights glitch; it was a larger inventory problem that depended on betting sponsorship to clear the books.
4. Band was the Brazilian TV network with the most active contracts with betting companies. Beyond the Saudi tournament sponsorship, it had also sold naming rights for Jogo Aberto and Os Donos da Bola to brands in the sector. With those deals gone, the company is looking for new sponsors but has been having trouble closing advertising contracts.
5. The knock-on effects reach beyond football rights. The debut of Luciana Gimenez on Band has been pushed back to 2027 because of the same commercial squeeze. Meanwhile, the Saudi Pro League will now be shown exclusively by X Sports on free-to-air TV, while SporTV, owned by Globo, keeps its rights through 2028 and Canal Goat remains on YouTube.

The league itself has spent the last few years increasing its global profile by signing high-profile players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mané, Karim Benzema, Theo Hernández, Rúben Neves and Darwin Núñez. Neymar, now at Santos, also had a stint in Saudi football. That matters for rights sellers and sponsors because star power can lift inventory, but it does not protect a deal if the payment stack behind it disappears.