Hugo Nunes, Cláudio Couto and Sara Lourosa discussed this absolutely crucial process for the future of Portuguese football.

After an introduction by Sandra Parente, Director of Liga Centralização, on the next steps in the centralisation of media rights, Hugo Nunes and Cláudio Couto, representatives of FC Porto and SC Braga respectively on the board of Liga Centralização, joined Sara Lourosa (EY) on the TFS stage to discuss this process that will determine the future of professional football in Portugal.

"It's absolutely important to think that in 2028 we will have a product to sell, and this asset will be based on this network of fans. The bigger this network gets, the more value we'll get out of this transaction. The better we work on the product and reach the fans, the more return we'll get for the industry," said Sara Lourosa.

For his part, Hugo Nunes believes that the unity of all parties involved in this process is absolutely crucial. "The commitment of all stakeholders is necessary for this process to be successful. Sports organisations must understand the difference between the froth of the day and the froth of the game. This moment of alignment, which we must work on together to ensure it's a success, begins before the processes are implemented," he said.

Hugo Nunes' opinion is echoed by Carlos Couto. "I think we need to increase the talent and competitiveness of our league. If we want to grow, we need to be more competitive and we can't have a 15-fold gap between the club that knows the most and the one that gets the least in terms of TV rights. It's very important that the clubs are aligned in this sense, that they are involved in these issues from the outside," he said.

In a panel discussion that closed the morning session on the TFS stage on the final day of the Thinking Football Summit 2023, other key issues for the centralisation of audiovisual rights were discussed, such as the improvement of infrastructures, the need to review the tax framework of the football industry or the difficulties posed by the phenomenon of piracy.