Campeonato Brasileiro Série A football team Palmeiras has agreed a two-year deal to make financial services group Crefisa its major sponsor.
Local media reports suggest Palmeiras will gain substantial reward from the deal, which is through to be worth in the region of R24m (€7.2m/$8.9m) annually.
Crefisa’s logo will feature on the front and back of Palmeiras’ playing shirts under the agreement, which runs until the end of club president’s Paulo Nobre’s current term.
Speaking at a press conference, Nobre felt vindicated having come in for criticism during the lengthy search for a main sponsor at Palmeiras after Korean automotive company Kia withdrew in May 2013, citing a change in import duty on cars in Brazil as the major factor behind its decision.
“We were criticised for not having accepted some proposals in the last two years, but we chose not to devalue the Palmeiras shirt,” Nobre said. “The best offer we received did not reach one third of what we receive from Crefisa now.”
The Yahoo Esportes website reported that Palmeiras’ Campeonato Brasileiro rival Sao Paulo was also close to negotiating a deal with Crefisa, but its R30m asking price per-year proved prohibitive.