A Bola

What is A Bola?

A Bola is a Portuguese sports newspaper, with a website at abola.pt and a television channel, A BOLA TV. Its about page states: “A BOLA em edição impressa é uma publicação diária, informativa e especializada em desporto e tem como orientação fundamental a de dar ao desporto uma dimensão estimulante e profunda.” That is, the printed edition is a daily publication specialising in sport.^[2]

Its technical sheet, as retrieved on 26 September 2026, names Sociedade Vicra Desportiva, S. A. as publisher and owner and RSMG AG as shareholder, and gives the ERC registration number as 100918.^[1] The site's footer reads “© 2026 Ringier Sports Media. Todos os direitos reservados.”^[3]

What does A Bola cover?

The about page lists sections for Futebol, Basquetebol, Ténis, Andebol, Hóquei em patins, Voleibol, Fórmula 1, Motociclismo, Futsal, Ciclismo and Atletismo. It states: “A capacidade de A BOLA em produzir conteúdo a nível impresso, digital e de vídeo, e ainda TV permite criar uma experiência única para os nossos seguidores, integrando o melhor de todas as modalidades para todos os fãs de desporto.” That is the paper's description of its own output across print, digital, video and television.^[2]

Ringier's announcement of the completed acquisition describes the business as “A Bola (newspaper, digital and TV)”, bought together with the magazine AutoFoco.^[4] The Ringier Sports Media Group's brand page describes A Bola as present across print, digital, video and television, and as offering its audience what it calls a unique and immersive experience. That is the owner's description.^[5]

Among the sections the about page lists are football, rink hockey, handball, basketball and volleyball, each under its Portuguese name.^[2]

How large is A Bola's audience?

Print. The technical sheet gives an average print run of 20,300 copies in December 2024, the paper's own figure; a print run is not paid circulation.^[1] Print circulation in Portugal is audited by the APCT, whose public table could not be tied to a stated year when retrieved, so no audited A Bola circulation figure is given here.

Online. Web audiences are measured by Marktest's netAudience, whose site could not be retrieved. A Bola reported on 14 July 2026 that in June 2026 “O jornal alcançou o 6.º lugar no ranking geral netAudience da Marktest, registando 2,1 milhões de leitores”, sixth in Marktest's general ranking with 2.1 million readers, and that June brought 22 million visits.^[6] It had reported on 17 June 2025 that in May 2025 “o jornal obteve mais de 2.000.000 de utilizadores, de acordo com o ranking NetAudience”.^[7] Both are the paper's own accounts of Marktest data, and both are one month's readings.

The owner's brand page claims five million visitors a month, naming no measurement source or period.^[5]

Since when has A Bola existed?

A Bola dates itself to 1945. Its about page states that on 29 January 1945 “nasce o jornal desportivo mais antigo do país A BOLA” — its own claim to be the country's oldest sports newspaper.^[2] Ringier's announcement of 17 July 2023 gives the same date, 29 January 1945.^[4] Both are the publisher's side of the record, and no independent source for the date was retrieved.

The current ownership dates from 2023. Ringier announced on 17 July 2023 “the successful completion of the acquisition of Sociedade Vicra Desportiva SA including A Bola (newspaper, digital and TV) and AutoFoco magazine from Vicontrol SGPS S.A.”^[4] The paper's about page states that in July 2023 it became part of the Ringier Sport Media Group, which it describes as reaching more than 25 million fans a month through 8 brands in 8 European countries.^[2] The technical sheet retrieved on 26 September 2026 still names RSMG AG as shareholder.^[1]

Why does A Bola matter in Portugal's sport?

A Bola is a national daily given over entirely to sport, with an ERC registration and a print edition, and it reports its own place in Marktest's netAudience ranking as sixth overall in June 2026.^[1][6] Its about page calls itself, as of July 2023, “a mais prestigiada e emblemática referência desportiva do país”; that is the paper's characterisation of itself.^[2]

The shareholder named on its technical sheet is RSMG AG, the Ringier Sports Media Group, and the 2023 seller was Vicontrol SGPS S.A.^[1][4] The Media Pluralism Monitor's Portugal 2026 page states of the market as a whole that a few major private media players hold large shares in several media sub-sectors, which it describes as an oligopolistic structure with major market power. That is the monitor's characterisation, and it does not name A Bola.^[8]