In digital marketing, few examples illustrate the power of breaking traditional models as well as the CazéTV case. Meanwhile, pay TV still concentrates high audience costs and rigid schedules. However, CazéTV showed, at the 2025 Club World Cup, that the game has changed completely. Today, the most valuable asset is attention.
But after all, how did CazéTV turn this game around? And what does this case teach those who work with strategy, content, and branding? That's exactly what we're going to show here.
The predictable broadcasting script and how CazéTV broke the pattern
For decades, the model was the same: major networks fought over rights, narrated with formality, and barely connected with the new generation. However, CazéTV went against the grain and created a direct, light, and multiplatform format, thus building a new kind of connection with the audience.
This disruption became clear right at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, when FIFA began allowing digital broadcasts. Casimiro's project emerged almost as an improvisation and, even so, it surprised everyone. As a result, the outcome was anything but small: millions watched for free via YouTube and Twitch, with a language made for those who already live in the digital world.
The CazéTV Case: from the Qatar World Cup to a digital media company
After that, with the resounding success in 2022, CazéTV stopped being just a channel. It became a company, acquired rights to Carioca, Paulistão, Copa Feminina, the women's Champions League, EURO, the Olympic Games, and, on top of that, kept its full focus on digital distribution and fragmented audiences.
With this, this movement forced giants like Globo, ESPN, and SBT to rethink their models. Today, whoever competes for rights doesn't think only about the satellite signal, but also about the impact on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
How the CazéTV Case dominated the 2025 Club World Cup
At this year's Club World Cup, CazéTV proved that the model works and, more than that, scales. On top of that, the numbers are impressive.
There were 17.4 million unique devices watching on YouTube in just the first weekend. In other words, that's more than double the total number of pay TV subscribers in Brazil, which add up to 7 million, according to Anatel.
On Instagram, clips and reacts reached 25 million people. Matches like Palmeiras x Porto and Flamengo x Espérance hit 2.9 and 2.8 million simultaneously connected devices, respectively.
Meanwhile, TV Globo and SporTV had massive numbers, with 50 million in total, but within an old model that depends on PNT and sample-based measurement. This is quite different from the segmented, trackable, and measurable data that digital offers.
The foundations of the CazéTV Case: attention, community, and disruption
The biggest insight from this case isn't just about reach, but also understanding that CazéTV doesn't sell soccer, it sells attention. And today, whoever controls attention controls the game.
On top of that, it doesn't sell an expensive subscription, it offers free access. It doesn't just depend on antennas or TV, it also distributes on mobile, at work, on the street. More than that, it doesn't just talk about the match, it talks about the meme, the banter, and the feeling of belonging. This creates something far more powerful than audience: it creates community, exactly what brands are looking for.
What the market needs to learn from this case
Anyone working in marketing needs, therefore, to look at the CazéTV case and understand:
- First of all, the asset isn't the signal, it's attention;
- On top of that, the new generation doesn't care about traditional TV;
- Also, distribution doesn't need to be linear or paid;
- Finally, monetizing doesn't mean pushing subscriptions, but rather bringing brands into a living ecosystem, through branded content, natural placements, and clips that go viral.
Conclusion: attention is the new billion-dollar contract
The CazéTV case is the biggest example of disruption in sports media since the arrival of subscription TV in the 90s. In just under three years, Casimiro and his team showed that building a strong brand, with an engaged community and multiplatform presence, is worth more than any traditional contract with a carrier.
That's why anyone still operating on the old model will be run over. After all, today, what decides the game is who controls attention.
Want to know, then, how to apply this logic to your brand? Talk to On Marketing Digital and find out how we can build strategies that combine branding, community, and performance, putting your business at the center of the market's attention.
Also read: Size isn't everything: why micro-influencers are the new force in digital marketing
