Recently, Cruzeiro changed its main sponsor at halftime of the 2-2 draw with Botafogo for the Brazilian Championship at Mineirão.
In the 37th round of the Brazilian Championship, Cruzeiro pulled a surprising move. It happened during their 2-2 draw with Botafogo at Mineirão. Raposa announced and changed the main sponsor of the club at halftime. The Minas Gerais team started the game with Betfair, a betting company, on their shirts. After halftime, they returned wearing uniforms featuring another betting company, Betnacional.
Nonetheless, the two betting sites belong to the same company. Itatiaia states that a Northern Irish company, Flutter, that controls both bets wants to boost the Betnacional brand in Brazil in the future years.
As a result, the brand, which already sponsors Sport, will start appearing on Cruzeiro’s jerseys by the end of the year. Betnacional also sponsors figures like Galvão Bueno and Vini Jr., a player for Real Madrid and the Brazilian national team.
Galvão even participated in the announcement of the sponsor change of Cruzeiro. In a video posted on the social media of the club, and also shown on the big screen of Mineiro stadium during halftime of the game against Botafogo, Pedro Lourenço, owner of the Cruzeiro SAF or Sociedade Anônima Desportiva, Sports Limited Company, called the commentator to let him know: “Galvão, it’s going to change!”
Until the end of 2026, Cruzeiro has a contract with Flutter. For that reason, the company did not change the amount it paid the Minas Gerais club. The payment remained the same despite the change in the main shirt sponsor. Aside from the bonuses for contractual goals, Cruzeiro receives R$ 43 million annually. The collaboration between the club and the Northern Irish company began in 2023. At that time, Ronaldo was still in charge of Cruzeiro SAF (Sports Limited Company).
