The sports betting platform Galera.Bet has been announced as Corinthians’ new sponsor for the next five years. The agreement will guarantee the Brazilian soccer club at least $7.4m over the next five years.

Under the terms of the sponsorship deal, the sports betting brand will appear on the sleeves of the team’s jerseys. In addition, the fans will be able to choose the name of the sponsor’s logo by voting on a club website. The options will be Coringao.bet, Alvinegro.bet and Fiel.bet.

“The fans are very important to the club, therefore we want to offer them more entertainment and engagement options. We ask them to participate in deciding the name of the platform. We want to democratize this moment,” said Andrés Sanchez, president of Corinthians.

According to Galera Group Vice President of Sports Operations Chanoch Ben-Simchon, the company will manage Corinthians’ sports betting platform remotely and outside of Brazil. Currently, it has offices in Israel and Cyprus.

“We’re very pleased with this commercial agreement. Corinthians will be a pioneer in this sports betting market, which has a huge potential in Brazil.”

To launch the digital platform, which is set to happen in August, Galera Group has already started developing apps in Brazil that use artificial intelligence (AI) to calculate odds and statistics related to sports.

As the sports betting industry in Brazil is still waiting for full regulation, none of the Galera products offered in the country will involve money. But Ben-Simchon believes that getting market penetration with free-to-play products will help longer term. “It’s essential to have a local branch that understands the Brazilian market,” he said. “This is a crucial factor for us in order to be successful in our operations.”