What is Band?
Band is the free-to-air television network of Grupo Bandeirantes de Comunicação, and the name under which the group publishes its sport. The portal at band.com.br carries the network's sports desk and connects to the group's other platforms: the pay-television channel BandSports, the streaming service Bandplay, and the radio stations BandNews FM, Rádio Bandeirantes and Band FM.[1]
Sport at Band runs on two tracks. One is rights, which the group has bought and lost repeatedly: it held Formula One for five seasons from 2021 through December 2025 and carried a state football championship for three seasons before 2026.[2] [3] The other is studio programming that does not depend on rights at all — the daily football debate programmes Jogo Aberto and Os Donos da Bola, which the portal carries alongside its news.[1]
The group's radio arm is the older strand, and the one with the longest continuous sports record it claims for itself.[4]
What does Band cover?
The band.com.br sports portal carries Brazilian and international football, the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sul-Americana, women's football, basketball, and a "velocidade" section covering Formula 1, IndyCar and Stock Car, with live streaming through the site and the group's apps.[1]
On air, the network's sports identity rests on the daily studio programmes Jogo Aberto and Os Donos da Bola and on BandSports, the group's pay-television sports channel.[1]
Radio is a separate strand and a large one. The group announced on 30 November 2025 that BandNews FM and Rádio Bandeirantes would each broadcast 60 matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Band FM and Nativa FM carrying a supplementary project, and stated that Bandeirantes radio stations had been present at every edition of the tournament since the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.[4] The claim about 1950 is the group's own account of its history.
What are Band's reach and standing?
Band's position in sport is best described by what it holds and when. RD1 reported on 5 December 2025 that Band was, as of that date, set to enter 2026 without live football, having relinquished the Campeonato Carioca after three seasons as Globo negotiated exclusive rights, and having lost Formula One to Globo; the report said the network faced the task of finding new ways to draw an audience.[3] That is a characterisation by the outlet that published it, not a finding by any regulator or auditor.
What the group retained is radio. For the 2026 World Cup, Grupo Bandeirantes secured transmission rights for BandNews FM and Rádio Bandeirantes, 60 matches each, and said its World Cup broadcasts had reached about 138 million people over the decades — the group's own figure, published with the rights announcement.[4]
Band is not among the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A rights holders for 2026; those are Globo across its platforms, Record, CazéTV and Prime Video.[5]
Since when?
The strand with the longest documented run is radio. Grupo Bandeirantes states that its radio stations have covered every FIFA World Cup since the 1950 tournament in Brazil, and it confirmed rights to the 2026 edition on 30 November 2025.[4]
The television dates are shorter and specific. Band held Formula One rights for the 2021 to 2025 seasons, the contract ending with the December 2025 round; Globo took the championship from 2026 under a three-year exclusive multi-platform agreement with Liberty Media running to the end of 2028, with about 15 Grands Prix a year on free-to-air television and full sessions on SporTV and Globoplay. The same report records Globo having held Formula One from 1981 to 2020, the run that Band's 2021 deal interrupted.[2]
Band's Campeonato Carioca run lasted three seasons and ended before the 2026 edition.[3] A founding date for the network itself could not be confirmed from a primary source.
Why does Band matter in Brazil's sport?
Because it is the free-to-air network that has repeatedly held sport Globo did not, and the dates of those holdings are the reason a Brazilian broadcast claim needs a term attached to it. Formula One was Band's from 2021 to 2025 and is Globo's from 2026 to the end of 2028; the Campeonato Carioca was Band's for three seasons and was not renewed for 2026.[2] [3]
It also keeps a route into sport that does not depend on rights. Jogo Aberto and Os Donos da Bola are studio programmes carried daily, and the group's radio stations carried the 2026 World Cup, 60 matches on each of two networks.[1] [4]
For a market in which one group owns ge, SporTV and TV Globo, Band is a national free-to-air broadcaster with a sports history of its own, and its portal covers football and motorsport whether or not it holds the pictures.[1] See broadcast rights.
References
- Band — Esportes section, sport menu and programme list, retrieved 17 September 2026. Accessed September 2026.
- Terra — Fórmula 1 deixa definitivamente a Band e volta à Globo em 2026. Accessed September 2026.
- RD1 — Band fica sem transmissão de futebol em 2026 após perder Fórmula 1 para a Globo, 5 December 2025. Accessed September 2026.
- Band — BandNews FM e Rádio Bandeirantes vão transmitir a Copa do Mundo FIFA 2026, 30 November 2025. Accessed September 2026.
- O Tempo — Onde assistir ao Brasileirão 2026? Entenda divisão dos direitos de transmissão, 28 January 2026. Accessed September 2026.