The Brazilian Championship begins this weekend with important changes that promise to transform the way the fan consumes the product football. The main one concerns the redistribution of transmission rights from the formation of the two commercial blocks, LFU and Libra. In the field, Flamengo, Palmeiras, Corinthians, Internacional, Atlético-MG and Botafogo enter as favorites in the title dispute.
The new contract of the clubs of Serie A with the broadcasters for the exhibition of the games will not coincide with a movement of union of leagues for the organization of the Brazilian Championship from 2027. The forecast is that the 2026 edition will be the last with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) as responsible for the structuring of the tournament.
LFU has signed a contract with Record and YouTube for the exhibition of a game by round by the end of 2027. The other contracts with Amazon (an exclusive game per round) and Globo Globo last until 2029, the same period as the pound agreement with the Rio de Janeiro station, which could show up to nine Serie A matches per round.

The average revenue of the Libra teams with the transmission rights should border on R $ 150 million, while clubs affiliated with LFU tend to receive, on average, R $ 130 million. This revenue will be distributed according to some criteria that are similar in both blocks, but have different percentages: audience (30% in Libra, 25% in LFU), final position in the championship (30% in Libra and LFU), the remainder will also be divided (40% in Libra, 45% in LFU).
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São Paulo
The state of São Paulo has six representatives in the elite of the Brazilian Championship, a fact that has not occurred since 2012. Among them, there is a newcomer: Mirassol. The team based 450 kilometers from the state capital was runner-up of the 2024 Serie B. The champion was Santos, who returns to the top with an idol in the cast: Neymar. With physical problems, he will not be on the field in his debut. Your presence throughout the tournament is also in check, as your contract ends in June, with only 12 rounds held.
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Best Paulista in Nacional in recent years, Palmeiras has been vice last season and ended the year with a bitter taste. The team has heavy signings to rediscover the title path and expand their lead in the champions list. Vitor Roque and Paulinho cost at least R $ 260 million to the Palestrinos coffers and want to help the team reach their 13th achievement
Corinthians did not make major investments for this season. After scaring the crowd in 2024, the Alvinegro ensemble has a team to fight for better positions since the first round and, for this, has Memphis, Yuri Alberto, Rodrigo Garro and André Carrillo, who are grace the crowd after the Paulistan title over Arquirrival.
São Paulo, in turn, has Oscar, Lucas Moura and Calleri as references, but also spared spending that make tricolor fans sweat cold. With Luis Zubeldía contested, the Morumbi Club should not have such a quiet Brasileirão. Red Bull Bragantino accumulates disappointments and is one of those listed to fight from beginning to end against relegation.
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The forces
The Estadão team has prepared a ranking of forces for this Brasileirão, taking into account the moment lived by the clubs, the focus they will have in the tournament dispute, the composition of their casts and the recent historical performance in the championship.
Thus, the teams that are commonly fighting for positions at the top of the table in recent editions, as Flamengo, Palmeiras and Botafogo. The red-black club, under the command of Filipe Luís, has been widely praised and won all the titles he played this year. Already the current national and continental champion lives surrounded by doubts, lost his coach and his main highlights for this year. The forces of state titles also drive Inter, Corinthians and Atletico-MG.
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Playing Libertadores this year, Sao Paulo, Bahia and Fortaleza must fight for the higher places, but they are still unknowns, just as Santos and Cruzeiro. While the village team bets on Neymar, the celestial team invested high in medallions that haven’t been doing well for some time, cases of Dudu, Gabigol and Cassio.
Grêmio, Fluminense and Vasco, among the great teams of the country, do not have such a full cast and had difficulties in their state already with Ceará, Red Bull Bragantino, Youth, Mirassol, Vitória and Sport is that the tendency is that the fight against relegation is a constant throughout the season.
- Favorites to the title: Flamengo, Internacional, Corinthians, Palmeiras, Botafogo and Atlético-MG.
- Fight for Libertadores: Bahia, Santos, Sao Paulo, Fortaleza and Cruzeiro.
- Supplies: Grêmio, Fluminense and Vasco.
- Fight against Z-4: Ceará, Red Bull Bragantino, Youth, Mirassol, Vitória and Sport.
Changes in Arbitration
For this season, the CBF promoted a reformulation in its arbitration committee. With Rodrigo Cintra as coordinator, the area will have names experienced in the sector: Luiz Flávio de Oliveira, Marcelo Van Gasse, Fabrício Vilarinho, Luis Câmara Bezerra, Eveliny Almeida and Emerson Coelho. The work, however, will not stop there. An external committee will evaluate weekly arbitration performance. Italian Nicola Rizolli, Argentine Nestor Pitana, – referees of the 2014 and 2018 Cup endings, respectively – and Sandro Meira Ricci will deal with this supervision task.
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In addition to the changes in command of the whistle, Brasileirão 2025 will have two important news on the field. The first of these will especially affect goalkeepers and was recently approved by the International Board (IFAB) to prevent the delay in the restoration of the games, the famous wax. If the goalkeeper exceeds eight seconds with the ball in his hands, the opposing team will have a corner in his favor.
Another measure implemented by the CBF will be the Multiball System, which prevailed in this year’s Paulistan and shares the same goal as the first rule. On the sides of the field and backlines are scattered 16 balls that are positioned on cones. Thus, the interference of the gandulas in the games of the games falls and the replacement is more agile with the athletes taking the balls closer to the place where the match should be restarted
1st round of the Brasileirão 2025: See times and where to watch
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- 03/29 – 6:30 pm – Sao Paulo x Sport – SporTV and Première
- 03/29 – 6:30 pm – Cruise x Mirassol – Amazon Prime Video
- 03/29-6:30 pm-Grêmio x Atlético-MG-Première
- 03/29 – 6:30 pm – Fortaleza x Fluminense – Première
- 03/29 – 6:30 pm – Youth x Vitória – Première
- 03/29 – 21h – Flamengo x International – SporTV and Première
- 03/30 – 16h – Palmeiras x Botafogo – Globo and Première
- 03/30 – 6:30 pm – Vasco x Santos – Record, Cazétv and Première
- 03/30 – 20h – Bahia x Corinthians – Première
- 03/31 – 20h – Red Bull Bragantino x Ceará – Première