What is Lusa?
Lusa is Portugal's national news agency, whose company is Lusa – Agência de Notícias de Portugal, S. A. Its shareholder page lists a share capital of 10,324,225 euros held in full, 100 per cent, by the Portuguese State.[2] Its site describes it as “a maior agência de notícias de língua portuguesa no mundo”, the largest Portuguese-language news agency in the world; that is the agency's own claim.[1]
Its relationship with the State is set by contract. Its 2025 report and accounts states: “O Contrato de Prestação de Serviço Noticioso e Informativo de Interesse Público (CPSNIIP), celebrado entre o Estado e a Lusa para o sexénio 2022-2027, foi visado pelo Tribunal de Contas a 24 de agosto de 2022, tendo vigorado retroativamente desde janeiro de 2022.” That is, the six-year public-interest news contract was cleared by the Court of Audit on 24 August 2022, with effect from January 2022.[5]
What does Lusa cover?
Lusa's site carries a Desporto section alongside its national, economic, cultural and international news. On 26 September 2026 its latest sports items, dated 24 and 25 September, covered football, triathlon, canoeing and motorcycling, among them one headed “Portugal confiante para o Mundial de hóquei em patins após estágio positivo”.[4]
Its 2025 report ties sports coverage to the contract. It states: “No Desporto, a fase final da Liga das Nações, na Alemanha em junho, assim como os Campeonatos Europeus de Atletismo em Pista Coberta, em Appledoorn em março, e os Campeonatos Europeus de Judo, em Podgorica em abril, justificaram o envio de equipas de Lisboa para assegurar a cobertura da participação portuguesa, em particular, e dos feitos desportivos, em geral, em consonância com o que são as obrigações da Lusa no âmbito do contrato de prestação de serviço público.” That is, those three events justified sending teams from Lisbon, in line with Lusa's public-service obligations; the spelling of the Dutch venue is the report's.[5]
How large is Lusa's audience?
A news agency sells to other media, and no audience measurement of Lusa's service by a measurement body was retrieved. Its own report gives output, not readership.
The 2025 report and accounts states: “Em 2025, a produção editorial da Lusa registou um aumento relativamente ao ano anterior, totalizando 257.763 conteúdos noticiosos, cumprindo com as metas contratuais celebradas com o Estado para a produção de conteúdos em todos os formatos (texto, fotografia, áudio e vídeo), traduzindo-se numa média diária de produção de 706 conteúdos jornalísticos.” That is, 257,763 news items in 2025, a daily average of 706, across text, photography, audio and video.[5] The report gives no separate figure for sport, and no client count.
Since when has Lusa existed?
Lusa's own history states: “A Agência Lusa de Informação, CIPRL foi constituída em cooperativa por escritura de 12 de Dezembro de 1986”, published in the Diário da República, III Série, n.º 48, of 26 February 1987. It states: “A Lusa iniciou a actividade em 1 de Janeiro de 1987”, and it records that the agencies ANOP and NP ceased their news service at that point.[3] It records that “Por escritura lavrada a 19 de Dezembro de 1997 a agência adoptou a denominação de Lusa – Agência de Notícias de Portugal S. A”, published in the Diário da República on 2 March 1998.[3] Constitution, start of activity and change of name are three different dates, and all three are the agency's own.
Its ownership changed in 2024. The Media Pluralism Monitor's Portugal 2026 page records that the State's acquisition of Lusa was completed in November 2024, making the company wholly State-owned, and that new statutes approved in January 2026 introduced a board of directors with three executives and an advisory board expanded to 13 members, including representatives of society and stakeholders.[6]
Why does Lusa matter in Portugal's sport?
Lusa is the State's news agency under a public-service contract, and its report records that it sent teams abroad in 2025 to cover Portuguese participation in football, athletics and judo championships as part of those obligations.[5] Its Desporto section carries football and other sports news, including rink hockey.[4]
The Media Pluralism Monitor has published on its ownership. It states that the withdrawal of private shareholders, which it attributes largely to concerns about financial sustainability, left an ownership gap that the State has filled; that the State effectively controls all of Lusa's capital, which in its view raises critical questions about governmental influence over the agency; and that Lusa's journalists have protested, fearing a loss of independence.[6] Those are the monitor's statements. Lusa's own shareholder page lists the State as sole shareholder.[2]
References
- Lusa — lusa.pt home page (sections; self-description). Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Lusa — Estrutura Acionista (Portuguese State, 100%; share capital €10,324,225). Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Lusa — A Nossa História (12 December 1986; 1 January 1987; 19 December 1997). Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Lusa — Desporto (sports section; items of 18–19 September 2026 as retrieved). Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Lusa — Relatório e Contas 2025 (PDF): editorial output, CPSNIIP 2022–2027, sports coverage. Accessed 2026-09-26.
- Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom — Portugal 2026, Media Pluralism Monitor country page (last modified 2 July 2026). Accessed 2026-09-26.