POP, the Olympic sponsorship program in Brazil, offers companies another way to support Olympic sport via the COB structure. Caixa and Grupo Tigre are among the first backers. Caixa’s annual contribution is BRL 40 million, while Tigre’s investment has not been disclosed.
This system revolves around direct financing for sports bodies. Participating firms can contribute as much as 20% of the initial amount meant for COB to confederations included in the program. The structure involves 26 qualifying confederations.
A New Route for Private Sports Money
For federations, this may mean access to private funding outside the usual centralized COB distribution model. For sponsors, the draw is also practical: companies get the opportunity to link their brands to COB activity and the events run by individual confederations.
COB’s Marco Antônio La Porta has put forward the idea of the scheme as part of a larger business strategy to promote Olympic sports. From his statements, it follows that the committee sees this initiative both as a source of finance and as a sponsorship offering.
Lottery Revenue Remains the Main Base
The Caixa commitment lands in a system where lottery revenue is significant. COB’s budget for 2026 is expected to reach BRL 679 million. More than BRL 475 million, which represents nearly 70%, is set to come from funds associated with lotteries. Meanwhile, another BRL 115 million, or almost 17%, is related to betting taxes.
This split explains why the Caixa agreement carries more importance than the yearly commitment of BRL 40 million. The company is already involved in one of the key sources of public funding for sports in Brazil. POP brings in private funding into this ecosystem as well.
Caixa Lottery Results Show the Scale
The lottery business run by Caixa is significant enough to affect discussions on sports and public spending. In Q1 2026, Caixa Lotteries reported BRL 5.97 billion in lottery revenue. This amount was 8.4% up compared to the same period of 2025, but declined 30.7% when compared to the previous quarter.
Mega-Sena and Lotofácil remained the largest lottery products by revenue. Moreover, Mega-Sena accounted for 39.8% of total lottery revenue and grew 30.3% year-on-year.
The company noted that lottery proceeds had reached more than BRL 12 billion annually during 2024 and 2025 to serve public purposes.
Regulated Betting Adds a Second Funding Layer
Brazil’s regulated online betting market has now become part of public finance. For instance, in 2025, Gross Gaming Revenue was estimated at BRL 37 billion. About BRL 4.5 billion was directed to the statutory allocations set by Brazilian law.
Regis Dudena said 2025 marked the first year in which the state was fully present in the market, with data collection and monitoring tools in place.
What’s Next to Watch
The Caixa-COB deal provides some indication as to where this funding approach is headed. While lottery money remains the dominant source of funding, betting taxes are now visible in the sports budget. For Brazil, the challenge ahead is to ensure that this combination of funding can stay stable.
