Portugal: Sport TV shareholders at odds over profits
October 16, 2026

From Branislav Pekic in Rome



Shareholders of Portuguese premium sports TV broadcaster Sport TV have issued contradictory statements regarding the company’s profitability.

Vodafone Portugal CEO Luís Lopes directly rejected recent comments made by NOS CEO Miguel Almeida, who had publicly labelled Sport TV a “financial hole” during an interview with Expresso.


While clarifying that Sport TV itself operates near breakeven rather than at a loss, Lopes argued that the primary financial burden lies with the telecom operators that distribute the channel, reported Economia Online.

Sport TV’s equity is split equally across telecom operators Vodafone Portugal, NOS, and MEO (Altice), along with Olivedesportos, each holding a 25 per cent stake.

Lopes emphasised that the dual role of operators as both equal shareholders and primary distributors creates a severe margin squeeze.

Subscription fees generated from Sport TV distributions fall significantly short of the licensing fees operators pay to carry the channel.

According to Lopes, sports rights—particularly for the national football championship—are “heavily overvalued” due to bidding wars established roughly a decade ago.

The conflict traces back to competitive moves in 2015 and 2016 when operators engaged in aggressive bidding for broadcasting rights.

According to Economia Online, in 2024 Sport TV reported total revenues of €216.1 million, representing a 9.3 per cent increase year-on-year. Adjusted EBITDA stood at €148.9 million (a 1 per cent decrease from 2023).

Depreciation and amortisation costs linked to multi-year sports rights contracts absorbed 99.2 per cent of EBITDA, leaving an operating profit of €1.16 million—an 81 per cent drop year-on-year. Net profit fell 59.3 per cent to €2.25 million, yielding a thin net margin of 1.04 per cent.

The debate comes as Portuguese domestic football prepares for the centralised sale of broadcasting rights – a major structural shift that will replace individual club rights deals with a unified auction model.