The year 2021 comes to an end in just a couple of days, and that’s the time for us to review our first season as an Official Sponsor for the CONMEBOL Sudamericana™. PayRetailers has now been a partner for this yearly tournament, colloquially called “Copa Sudamericana”, for a full season – 2021. The partnership has been closed for two consecutive ones, so you can rely on our presence for the 2022 edition of the tournament too.
As we are deeply rooted in many South American countries, our aspirations to become a well-known brand within the Latin American markets led us to choose the CONMEBOL Sudamericana as our partner. Football is the most popular sport in the region, with hundreds of millions of fans, kids playing from young age, and the elders either sitting in the stadiums or in front of the TV cheering for their teams. As PayRetailers is on the trajectory to become one of the biggest Payment Service Providers in Latin America, this step of taking on the sponsorship for such a prestigious organization and sports is a great honour.
It all began in December 2020, when the 2020 edition of the “Copa” has been ended. With some sponsors already set for the coming years, there has been a free slot for PayRetailers. For the 2021 season we joined the ranks of Amstel, Betfair, Bridgestone, EA SPORTS, MG Motor and Qatar Airways. Shortly after the start of our commitment to CONMEBOL, our CEO and Founder, Juan Pablo Jutgla, said that being one of the Official Sponsors of this competition is a dream come true that reflects PayRetailers’ major commitment to Latin America.
For the 2021 season, the tournament has been modified to cater for the needs of more fans in South America. A Group Phase has been included, and the number of total matches been increased from 105 to 157. As for financial commitment, the CONMEBOL agreed on a 25% increase in distribution across all tournament phases – from approx. USD 47 m to approx. USD 59 m.
Key data for the 2021 season
- Prestigious 20th anniversary of the Copa Sudamericana
- Winner: Atlético Paranaense (Brazil), grabbing their 2nd Copa title
- Season start: March 16, 2021
- Season end: November 20, 2021
- 4th time of the Copa Sudamericana to be taking place alongside the Copa Libertadores throughout the whole year
- Final venue: Estadio Centenario (Uruguay)
- Teams: 44 + 12 (eliminated teams stemming from the Copa Libertadores), from 10 CONMEBOL member associations; 6 teams each from Brazil and Argentina, 4 teams each from all other countries
- Matches: 157
- Goals: 389 (average 2,48 per match)
- Top scorer: Agustín Álvarez Martínez (Argentina) with 10 goals
This season was a blast, and we are looking forward to the 2022 edition of the road to the conquest.
