General Atlantic (GA) Acquires Minority Share in Live Mode for Broadcasting Rights: Impact on Brazilian Sports Sector

A Atlantic General (GA)one of the investors in Liga Forte União (LFU), bought a minority share Live modea company that arranges broadcasting rights for the club block.

“The partnership with General Atlantic and XP represents an important milestone in our journey. The experience of these two companies in scaling high-growth businesses, together with their extensive global networks, will be essential as we expand our operations”, says Leo Lenz Cesar, partner at LiveMode responsible for pre- investment strategy and performance.

The amount received and the value of the investment were not disclosed by the North American venture capital firm. XP Private Equity, a fund from XPanother LFU investor.

“LiveMode has become a partner of several sports organizations and is in a position to investigate media rights and league management, covering not only football, but also other sports ,” said Guilherme Teixeira, partner and director of the Private Equity area at XP.

“We believe that this investment will contribute to the development of the business environment in the Brazilian sports sector”, he said.

Active

According to GA, “The investors’ partnership with LiveMode aims to accelerate the company’s growth and impact on the sports and media market through its full portfolio of rights holder solutions and long-term investments in the sports buildings”.

“We are excited to work with the LiveMode team on the next stage of their journey, as the company further strengthens its business through long-term partnerships and sports property acquisitions, as well as global expansion ,” said Luiz Ribeiro, managing director and co-head of General Atlantic in Brazil.

LiveMode is the body appointed to negotiate broadcasting rights for the 26 clubs that make up the LFU. At the moment, there is no official proposal for these funds, but the company hopes to raise more by cutting these rights across different platforms, a strategy it has followed as -already in negotiating these Paulistão funds, a competition in which he is a partner of the São Paulo Football Federation (FPF).

Brazilian Football League (Libra) they sold these assets with Grupo Globo for each platform. Therefore, the home matches of Atlético-MG, Bahia, Flamengo, Grêmio Palmeiras, Red Bull Bragantino, São Paulo and Vitória will be broadcast by Globo, Sportv or Premiere for the cycle from 2025 to 2029. Santos, if they move up to Série A in 2025, he will also join this group.

Increase

According to LiveMode, the entry of GA and XP into the company will help the group to expand long-term investments in sports properties. The idea is to focus on three types of assets: football leagues, Olympic sports and emerging sports.

“We are very happy with this partnership, which accelerates our desire to professionalize and promote the growth of the sport in Brazil and other countries”, said Cesar, from LiveMode.

With GA’s entry into the industry, LiveMode also plans to expand its international presence.

Cross industry

This is not the first move by GA and XP towards assets near Forte União. R$ 2.6 billion investment to acquire 20% of the commercial rights of the clubs that make up the LFU for 50 years

Now, as part owners of LiveMode, GA and XP will also have CazéTV in their portfolio, a streaming platform run by the digital influencer Casimiro Miguel, who already has events such as Cupa World Cup 2022 Qatar and Australia and New Zealand Women’s World Cup to broadcast. 2023. The channel reached over 12 million subscribers on YouTube in its first year.

LiveMode also recently renewed its partnership with FIFA to negotiate broadcast rights in Brazil for the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

League?

With LFU clubs tied to commercial agreements with GA, XP, LCP and LiveMode, and Libra teams already approved by Globo, it is increasingly difficult for the club blocs to link up to create a unified league. The entry of LFU investors with a minority in LiveMode is another step towards this distance.