Vasco da Gama have become the latest top-flight Brazilian soccer club to secure a record shirt sponsorship deal with a betting brand through an agreement with Betfair.

Via a tie-up running until the end of 2025, the bookmaker’s branding will appear on the front of the men’s shirt and the shoulder of the women’s kits, as well as on the Rio de Janeiro-based club’s digital and social media channels. 

The deal with the Brazilian Serie A side will also include fan engagement initiatives.

The new Betfair-branded shirt made its first appearance during the club’s 2-1 win over Vitória on Sunday (May 12).

Betfair replaces rival betting firm Pixbet as Vasco’s main sponsor. The agreement includes the option to extend for another two years.

Vasco only renewed its commercial deal with Pixbet before the beginning of the 2023 season in a move that was set to see it through to the end of the upcoming 2024 calendar.

The Betfair deal puts Vasco in esteemed company in the Brazilian league, with its value now set to sit among the highest in the league for a shirt sponsor, per GlobalData Sport.

Vasco chief executive Lúcio Barbosa has said: “It is an honor and an achievement to close this partnership, the largest in Vasco’s history, with Betfair. There were weeks of intense work to get the best for our club with a huge and consolidated company.  

“We still have challenges ahead but our commitment to working seriously and hard for Vasco continues.”

The Brazilian league’s sponsorship landscape is dominated by betting partners, and the government has now taken steps to regulate the sports betting market in the country.

Earlier in January, a bill was passed into law that will see a federal sports betting marketplace launched with a new regulator framework in place to tax winnings and formalize betting law.

The move has seen multiple top Brazilian Serie A clubs enter into lucrative commercial agreements with sports betting firms.

Corinthians signed what is claimed to be the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in the history of Brazilian soccer with VaideBet in January worth a total of R$370 million ($71.7 million), or R$120 million per year.

This followed the previous record set by Flamengo just a week earlier after the club agreed a two-year deal with Pixbet worth R$85 million annually.

EstrelaBet has a deal with América Mineiro that the club also described as the biggest in its history, while Sao Paulo unveiled Superbet as their new shirt sponsor in January.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian Serie A also recently named Betano, the international sports betting firm, as the league’s new title sponsor.

Betano is also the title partner of the country’s Copa do Brasil cup competition and Supercopa do Brasil.

Last year, Vasco signed a shirt sponsorship deal with travel insurance company Intermac, whose logo will feature on the right chest area the team’s shirts, opposite the club’s badge, until December 2024.

Betfair, meanwhile, adds Vasco to its two-year shirt sponsorship deal with Cruzeiro that began in 2023.