Hernán Donnari de 1190 Sports
The most recent sports rights project within the 1190 Sports portfolio is the business assessment for Liga Forte Futebul in Brazil through the Serengeti Assets Management and Life Capital Partners funds. “It is the largest and most ambitious project in which we are involved,” said Hernán Donnari, co-founder and CEO of 1190 Sports. They expect to complete it in April this year.
“Brazil is in the process of transforming its football from a decentralized to a centralized model. The rights of all the clubs are commercialized in a unified way creating two poles: one that has grown more and that we are advising and working on, Forte Futebol. We are assessing Serengeti Assets Management and Life Capital Partners on approaching the business. We are talking about the most important league in the region forming at the moment, and we are working together with one of the investors doing this task in the territory where soccer is king, Brazil. We are happy to be part of the creation of what will undoubtedly be one of the top ten leagues in the world, and we are going to make it even more relevant,” he explained.
Donnari mentioned that they selected this project because they are a company with several accredited years of experience in Brazilian soccer and have notably collaborated in its internationalization. “Just to mention, in 2019, the Brasilerao was seen in very few countries. It had no distribution with third parties. It only had a single operator and, over three years, reached more than 150 countries. The recognition for seeking global partners, our understanding of the internationalization opportunities view of the leagues in the region have, is the reason for our selection as business advisors.”
He explained that the model of the 1190 Sports stands on three components: the guaranteed minimum, the revenue share, and the equity value of the vehicle they create. “We have learned to manage that complexity, that way of explaining to the leaders of the federations and leagues how this is articulated and works. In the case of the Brasilerao, we are sharing revenue share above the guaranteed minimum. This is the second year where the guaranteed minimum is only one story, and we build the additional amount on it.”
Fz Sports, a subsidiary of 1190 Sports, recently raised US$74 million in growth funds, which, as Donnari explains, will help promote the Peruvian League 1. “And also other opportunities that we are exploring in the territory -to be announced shortly-, to continue strengthening with La bicolor -the national team of Peru-, to continue building La Roja -the Chilean national team- and what is coming with Brazil.” He concluded that they are happy with this money injection because they are in an industry that requires capital to do business and to promote new businesses.
