INDEX

PAGE 05

1. Message from the President

PAGE 07

2. Strategic Positioning 2019-2023

PAGE 19

3. Business structure of Liga Portugal

PAGE 25

4. Sports season review 2021-22

PAGE 35

5. Operating Objectives 2022-23

PAGE 41

6. Activity Plan 2022-23

PAGE 107

7. MACRO SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES 2022-23

PAGE 113

8. Proposed Operating Budget 2022-23

PAGE 137

9. Proposed Treasury Budget 2022-23

This past 2021-22 season, which saw FC Porto become the National Champions of the Liga Portugal bwin and Rio Ave FC win the Liga Portugal SABSEG, has brought us great moments of joy - such as the return of the public to the stadiums - but also huge challenges.

The new season will be no different. Professional Football Does Not Stop!

Liga Portugal is preparing to close the last year of our second mandate under the aegis of the Centralisation of Media Rights - with the Professional Football Sports Societies aware that this measure is a fundamental part of the solution for the financial sustainability of our Clubs.

A new season that will maintain the strong commitment to fighting violence in stadiums, having Liga Portugal as the biggest opponent to phenomena of violence, racism, xenophobia, discrimination and intolerance, having already committed itself to setting, in the 2022-23 season, a security department.

The passion for Football makes us want to fight progressively for its valorisation, internationalisation, notoriety and reputation. We shall not be powerless on this path, having already presented the new Government with the changes we consider vital for the development of Portuguese Professional Football: revision of the work-related accidents insurance plan, fight against violence phenomena, alteration of the sports betting system, revision of the current legal framework for Sports Societies, the tax framework that conditions the activity of sports societies, the strengthening of the recognition of Professional Football in the Sports, Economy and Finance Departments, and the creation of the Liga Portugal Barometer and Observatory, which allows the collection and processing of data that prove the importance and contribution of Football in the national economy, boosting its investment and internationalisation.

The available figures speak for themselves and support all the efforts: professional football contributed more than 550 million euros to the GDP in 2020-21 (0.25 per cent) and more than 192 million euros in taxes.

This fact sets the tone for more. Liga Portugal, as well as all its departments, remains ambitious and, despite a period marked by the uncertainty caused by the aftermath of the pandemic and a dangerous conflict in Europe, it sets out on new challenges and projects, looking to the future with optimism.

Therefore, from the 18th to the 20th of November, we will be the centre of European and world Football, holding the Thinking Football Summit: three days of intense reflection on the industry, with the expertise and know-how provided by the best national and international speakers. An event that takes place right before a World Cup that will be held exceptionally in December, in Qatar, which leads the Allianz CUP to be held with a new, but competitive format, with 63 gamesa group stage (56 games) in November and December and a second stage (play-off) between the eight group winners. The Final Four will take place in January, as is already a tradition in the national sporting calendar.

We cannot overlook another important contribution made by this Board - the Liga Portugal Arena, a new head office building and future incubator for companies, meetings, businesses and developments already under construction to complete the present mandate and positively mark the future of operations and development of Liga Portugal for many good years to come.

Liga Portugal is aware of the enormous challenges ahead, of the many arduous and demanding issues that must be tackled. Above all, we believe that these efforts will contribute towards the Portuguese Professional Football that we all desire - a positive, friendly Football, based on respect, aggregation and spectacle that will promote us around the world as a League filled with talent! A Talent that Doesn't Stop!

With the end of the first mandate of the current Board of Directors of Liga Portugal, it was necessary to define the strategy for the organisation for the coming years, resulting in a business plan for 4 years that would allow to develop the current phase of maturity and to promote Liga Portugal on national territory and worldwide. Now that Liga Portugal finds itself in a stable phase, the duty and obligation of the organisation are to identify the major challenges for Professional Football, by defining tactics that are capable of valuing and promoting its competitions.

This way, based on past criteria and having in mind planning for another four years, a strategic plan for Liga Portugal was developed by EY, as well as a new business model. Using this document as a basis, and understanding the current state of the sector, and where we should promote our football, 5 new strategic axes of action for the 2019-23 cycle were defined.

The Activities Plan is then the supporting document for the execution of activities for the next season, presenting the positioning, strategy and projects that Liga Portugal proposes to carry out, aligned with and approved by the Sports Societies. This document aims to achieve, through the implementation of concrete actions and respective budgeting, the objectives and guidelines that must be taken by the institution, defined for this 4-year cycle.

The season we are now starting corresponds to the last season of this cycle, so all the actions foreseen will now be fully completed, as outlined throughout this document.

This annual document is drawn up by an organisation that wants to contribute for its affirmation as an institution of reference within the Portuguese football scope.

In order to successfully respond to these challenges, Liga Portugal has outlined an ambitious strategy for Professional Football as an industry, with the purpose of promoting and valuing Portuguese Professional Football commercially, economically and sportingly.

01 liga portugal affirmation

02 VALUING OF THE COMPETITIONS

03 INDUSTRIALISATION OF PORTUGUESE FOOTBALL

04 BETTING ON DIGITAL

05

INTERNATIONALISATION OF LIGA PORTUGAL

Liga Portugal stands out by the values of Credibility, Aggregation, Talent and Spectacle in the organisation of three major competitions every season, sustained by the excellence of its football.

A talent hub that enhances and exports some of the best players in this sport worldwide, in which 36 professional teams participate.

The Mission, Vision and Values articulate the essence of the organisation’s aspirations, by defining its positioning before the World. This is the way that an organisation shall position itself to its stakeholders, paving the way to be followed and showing how to get there.

Ensuring the excellence of the planning of the competitions, In full compliance with the economic and financial sustainability of the institution and its associates.

Establishing itself as one of the most important European football Leagues, permanently following a path of good international practices, thus valuing Portuguese Professional Football economically and sportingly.

Creates Talent.

In every field, both at our competitions, as in the business management.

Joining the ingredients in order to create a more spectacular competition inside and outside the stadiums.

Both in our competitions and with its agents, and in the industry.

Create the proper conditions to safeguard the best interests of football.

The future strategy of Portuguese Professional Football should be envisioned for its (re)positioning in the top-5 European leagues and to promote its economic and sporting value.

By capitalising on its strong strategic vision, its professional and specialised management competencies and its contract negotiation skills, Liga Portugal has been making efforts to value its professional competitions, including partners of the highest reputation and carrying out relevant projects.

In parallel, Liga Portugal needs to assert itself even more as the promoter of change, which will require more notoriety and prominence at a national and international level, as well as a governance model better prepared for the challenges that it may face.

It is equally important to change the path, based on the valorisation of the Portuguese Professional football competitions, making them more competitive, more financially sustainable and transparent.

This future strategy should also enhance the industrialisation of Portuguese football, favouring its commercial valuation. Football is a spectacle that needs to be sold as such. Good international practices suggest that Liga Portugal should reinforce all the sectors that contribute to increasing its spectacularity, making it more marketable. At this level, it is absolutely crucial to adopt a coordinated strategy between the clubs that outweighs the constraints of the current cultural paradigm and that promotes social dialogue.

The conjunction of the national Professional Football with the recent technological and digital developments is also essential. At this level, it is essential to bet on strategic partnerships (e.g. LaLiga).

Betting on the internationalisation of Portuguese football is also a path to be followed, capitalising on the advantages of existing specific know-how, in particular with regard to scouting, training of players and coaches and the organisation of professional football competitions.

Establishing partnerships and defining a joint strategy in international markets, especially in countries with a common past with the Portuguese language and culture, which have players and coaches playing in Portugal, and also in countries that receive Portuguese players and coaches, are essential to the achievement of this strategy.

The Liga Portugal Board, taking into account the axes of intervention and the overall strategy to be implemented, has defined 5 strategic axes for the 2019-23 cycle.

The long-term partnership established between Liga Portugal and EY has been essential for this enhancement cycle of Portuguese Professional Football.

This way, several documents were drawn up, with the purpose of democratising and increasing the transparency of the sector, in which we highlight the Portuguese Football Annual Report and the Strategic Plan of Liga Portugal 2019-23, which served as the basis to define the strategies to be implemented during this cycle.

This constant and continuous work, within the framework of this partnership, involved an exhaustive survey of information, which allows us to understand the extent of the sector and its positioning in the national economy, as well as the paths that it will have to take in order to achieve the objectives we have established.

MAY

An extensive scrutiny work, with the main purpose of fully understanding Portuguese Football, Liga Portugal and its position within the European Football and the world.

A strategy and an action plan to respond to the existing challenges and constraints, aiming to position Portuguese football in the five major European leagues and valuing it as a business.

Document of operational nature and within the internal forum of Liga Portugal, with the financial plan associated with the implementation of the identified measures and presented in the Strategic Plan for the 2019-23 cycle.

This Activity Plan is based on the presentation of the specific actions to be carried out one year from now, based on the major macro strategic objectives defined for the 2019-2023 cycle, and which have framed the last three activity plans and this latest one, which now concludes the strategic plan. This way, the strategic objectives for the 2019-23 cycle are:

Competitiveness 01

Promote the attractiveness of our competitions by promoting the best plan for its competitive models and frameworks;

Integrity 05

Encourage the adoption of a joint and cross-cutting strategy towards all football agents to tackle bribery and corruption, seeking to ensure the integrity of the sport;

Business 09

Bet on global expansion, seeking to promote Portuguese Professional Football worldwide, as well as to diversify its sources of income;

Strategy 06

Develop business strategies that meet the new consumers' profile and their needs;

Ensure the financial sustainability of the Sports Societies through an effective implementation of strict rules for registration in the competitions;

Valuing 07

Contribute to value and increase the quality of the spectacle by stimulating the interest of the partners and enhancing a higher economic return;

Innovation 04

Promote an active policy of technological innovation as a catalyst for sportsmanship, as well as for creating emotional and commercial ties with fans;

Dialogue 08

Promote social dialogue by converging shared interests among the protagonists of the game;

Governance 10

Counter some of the cultural idiosyncrasies that hinder the implementation of a more advantageous business model;

Reflection 11

Implement a new governance model, that is simultaneously democratic, responsive and reliable, that promotes an advanced management of Liga Portugal;

Reflect on the new challenges faced by the Sports Societies regarding their audiovisual rights.

The strategic goals of Liga Portugal for the 2019-23 cycle have been clearly defined, resulting in operational objectives that translate into five axes of action and development - leading to 90 areas of specific actions:

01. Approve and implement a new credible, democratic and professional model that facilitates decision-making and ensures greater transparency and management accountability at all levels.

02. Promote a study to assess how the organisation is perceived by its main stakeholders, assessing the institution’s positioning and proposing strategies that promote the brands associated with Portuguese Professional Football.

03. Develop a Liga Portugal - Sports Societies Trainees Program in order to acquire and retain talent.

04. Strengthen the organic structure of Liga Portugal to keep up with the growing needs, allowing it to develop and implement strategies and projects in the future.

05. Raise the level of professionalism at the upper and intermediate levels, as well as increase the level of academic qualifications and international experience of its staff.

06. Adopt a policy of continuous training, allowing for the flow of professionals between Liga Portugal and the various football institutions across the world.

07. Postgraduate in Management: capitalise on the current postgraduate to captivate international references for internal training.

08. Postgraduate in Communication: carry out a Postgraduate Degree in Communication in Professional Football, in partnership with the Universidade Católica de Braga’s Faculty of Communication.

09. Institutionalise a follow-up session of the strategic plan on a six-month basis.

10. Promote a semi-annual staff meeting.

11. Consolidate the reporting and accountability policies.

12. Expand and optimise funding sources by focusing on commercial activity, thus strengthening its financial position.

13. Promote a support study to evaluate the feasibility of negotiation in the future of media rights.

14. Create a Centre for Studies and Research on Portuguese Professional Football, in close collaboration with the academic world.

15. Think Tank: expand the concept of Think Tanks, stimulating synergies and complementarities with other entities.

16. Use the Ambassador’s project to positively promote football, its culture and the value of Liga Portugal and its competitions.

17. Reformulate and rethink Liga Portugal’s marketing strategy, seeking to let off the institutional side from the more operational side.

18. Promote a new agenda with the media, political and sports agents, as well as with International organisations, thus adopting a more interventive strategy on various fields.

19. Present a multimedia mega strategy that highlights the values of aggregation of those involved in Professional Football.

20. Carry out studies for the implementation of collective actions aimed at increasing the know-how of the Sports Societies.

21. Promote Fundação do Futebol, putting social responsibility at the service of the brand. Launch a symbolic social responsibility initiative per season.

22. Liga Portugal Headquarters: Better implementation/requalification of its infrastructural conditions to keep track of the evolution of its needs in the coming years.

23. Create an integrated and advanced dynamic regarding the football culture in Portugal.

24. Brand Equity: develop a strategy to position Liga Portugal alongside major brands in order to promote institutional growth on par with the top European leagues.

25. Develop a digital tool to monitor the Sports Societies’ accounts, e.g. financial ratios vs targets defined by UEFA, supported by a notification system.

Strategy for greater transparency and better regulation of Portuguese Professional Football

26. Consolidate the Licensing Manual for participation in national competitions, based on the standards of European competitions.

27. Renew the conditions for participation in competitions.

28. Create an official Liga Portugal bookmaker that will provide new sources of income.

29. Create a progressive framework for the implementation of Financial Fair Play targets, based on the parameters of the Financial Fair Play of UEFA 1.0 and Financial Fair Play of UEFA 2.0.

30. Analysis of External Investment: collaborate with governing and administrative authorities on key topics in order to capture international investment in Portuguese football.

31. Pact for Football: create a document on values to be promoted and codes of conduct to be adopted by agents of football.

32. Value fair-play actions by adding rewards and increasing media visibility.

33. Promote the Liga Portugal Working Groups that bring together the experts with influence at a club-management level.

34. Analyse the possibility of implementing Goal-Line Technology (GLT) in the Liga Portugal Bwin.

35. Introduce technology to support game analysis (e.g. tactical feed), as well as automatic analysis (e.g. tracking available to all teams).

36. Develop existing platforms with the addition of new features.

37. Create a Fan ID concept for accreditation of football fans who go to the stadiums.

38. Institutional Information: create a data link between Liga Portugal and the Portuguese Football Federation.

39. Develop training courses for sports commentators. Provide information to promote the positive element of football.

An integrated strategy to generate a greater commercial value of the game, managed as a business

40. Create campaigns to encourage fair play actions and promote the game with the fans.

41. Increase the creation of educational, festive, positive and civic content for football as a sporting event for families.

42. Promote an analysis of the current consumer profile, arranging differentiated commercial strategies for the different profiles of the fans.

43. Develop training courses and forums for various types of football agents, including players, coaches, match officials, game delegates and representatives.

44. Encourage the presence of families at the stadiums through an arrangement of initiatives aimed at this purpose.

45. Pink Fan: promote the presence of women at the stadiums, with a range of initiatives oriented to this sector.

46. Audience: develop engagement mechanisms with clubs, which contribute to obtaining higher attendance rates.

47. Violence in the Game: create a campaign for eradication of violence in football, in conjunction with the Authority for Prevention and Combat towards Violence in Sports.

48. Set up, in partnership with the broadcasters, a weekly programme to be held in the vicinity of the stadiums, prior to the official matches of the competitions.

49. Conduct a study for the optimisation of the competitive model and identification of the best framework for each competition.

50. Television Broadcasts: draw up a proposal for a performance guide that aligns the recording, production and broadcasting of matches which also promotes the game.

51. Promote a ranking system for stadiums and accessibility with the elaboration of a set of specifications.

52. Fan Zones: develop and promote their expansion.

53. Implement a campaign to promote a tax-benefit status for footballers.

54. Advocate, alongside the competent authorities, for the reduction of the VAT to 6% on match tickets.

55. Sports accidents insurances: defend clear objectivity of the law to reduce the insurance premiums paid by the Sports Societies.

56. Bet on the increase of properties for the naming sponsor.

57. Prepare a feasible and measurable Business Plan.

Strategy to accelerate digitalisation in Liga Portugal and Portuguese football

58. Establish an autonomous "Digital" Department with an appropriate budget and structure for future challenges.

59. Further the development strategy of channels, with the creation of a study to maximise the return.

60. Implement a new model of communication between the communication and marketing departments.

61. Improve the Liga Portugal digital platforms for the purposes of branding and buzz to enhance traffic generation and conversion (CRM/FRM development).

62. Develop a study that analyses the tools to be used (e.g. SEO, CRO, etc.), as well as the return of investments on digital marketing.

63. Encourage Sports Societies to define and implement a digital strategy through the creation of specific digital guidelines.

64. Produce digital content that stimulates the increase in the number of fans from different regions to their football idols that play in national competitions.

65. Use international bloggers and Youtubers to promote the spectacularity of the competitions and those involved.

66. Partners: create synergies for the development of projects with major players in the digital area.

67. Develop an integrated e-Commerce platform (with the Sports Societies) through the online sale of merchandise.

68. Define a sponsoring strategy.

69. trengthen the investment in eSports and gaming events.

70. Qualification and international valuing of the eLiga.

71. Create, improve and internationally promote the e-Fan concept.

72. Improve digital content via LIGA TV (in video-on-demand and/or webTV format).

73. Digital Media Operator: implement a digital media operator creative strategy (in videoon-demand and/or webTV format).

Strategy to obtain a significant international appeal of the Liga Portugal

74. Create an internationalisation plan for Liga Portugal with adequate staff and financial resources.

75. Formally create an “Internationalisation” Department within the internal organisation chart of Liga Portugal.

76. Promote a study to support the assessment of the viability of negotiations for international media rights in the future.

77. Prepare a roadshow for international bid placement.

78. Outline and implement collective actions and/or joint projects to finance the internationalisation plan (e.g. PT2020).

79. Launch Liga Portugal stores in the main Portuguese airports.

80. Create Fan Zones for Portuguese communities outside of Portugal.

81. Foster closer contact with international agencies.

82. Establish partnerships with relevant international players.

83. Develop and implement the internationalisation plan of the League Cup.

84. Carry out training actions and develop consulting and training projects in countries that belong to the PALOP community.

85. Use the Ambassadors as promoters of Liga Portugal, its competitions and Sports Societies in foreign markets.

86. Create a database of players with diverse audiovisual content that allows the creation of content to be used by international media, thus facilitating interaction with international partners and enhancing the Liga TV channel.

87. Participate in international summits to promote Liga Portugal and its competitions.

88. Create international competitions (e.g. Torneio Quadrangular, Copa Ibérica).

89. Cooperation: define a protocol allowing the joint use of international offices.

90. Adopt LaLiga as a strategic benchmark.

For each defined strategic axis, a set of objectives were identified, which will be translated into 90 specific actions and projects. Despite the development of a 4-year strategic plan, it is in this current Activity Plan that the tasks are implemented both materially and financially.

All actions to be implemented must be measured in results and be consistently oriented to achieve the 5 strategic axes.

Liga Portugal intends to play an increasingly interventive role with regard to the services it provides to the Sports Societies, as well as in the search for a financing model that allows for higher levels of income for Portuguese Professional Football in general and, more specifically, for Liga Portugal. In addition to developing actions for greater commercial and promotional coordination with Sports Societies, such as developing an internationalisation plan that can be supported by European funds, developing commercial proposals with higher levels of integration, as well as finding new sources of revenue, such as consultancy, marketing of official products, training, information, among others.

This path of branching out new sources of revenue by Liga Portugal is already being followed. However, new projects need time to reach economic maturity. The fact that Liga Portugal is simultaneously implementing all of its investment projects, means that everyone remains in a development stage instead of economic and financial maturity.

Liga Portugal reorganised its business structure, breaking up its activities into different organisations and then merging itself with all these companies both financially and in terms of the activities carried out.

• Social Responsibility

• Property Management

• New Building Management

• Associative and Liga Portugal's activity

• Operation of professional competitions

• Official Products

• Organisation of Events

• Centralisation of Media Rights

• Education and Training

• Entrepreneurship

• Studies Development

• Consultancy

Liga Portugal Infraestruturas is one of Liga Portugal's most recent projects. Its main goal is to enhance the real estate assets of the organisation that manages Professional Football in Portugal. The first major project is related to the new headquarters building of the institution, the Arena Liga Portugal. Liga Portugal's mission is to make Professional Football in Portugal grow and become as successful as possible, being fully aware that its responsibility goes far beyond the organisation of its competitions. With the assumption of becoming a League of excellence, it became necessary and essential to turn around a negative trend in its financial situation and create conditions for selfsustainability, ensuring that its accounts are now solid.

Based on this certainty, Liga Portugal Infraestruturas will allow, in addition to the management and enhancement of its own assets, to develop the new home of Portuguese Professional Football, called the Arena Liga Portugal, located in the city of Porto, as well as the many important and emblematic projects that this investment will bring in a positive way for all its stakeholders, namely for the members of Liga Portugal.

Liga Portugal, as an institution that represents the 34 Sports Societies that comprise Professional Football, seeks maximum professionalism, modernisation and credibility of all the sectors integrated into the activity.

One of Liga Portugal's new business units, Liga Portugal Comercial, was created with the aim of playing a fundamental role in the commercialisation, production and promotion of various products associated with its competitions, as well as being a source of income and profitability for the assets and products of its Sports Societies.

In this context, the creation of the Liga Portugal Store was a great step in this direction. Inaugurated on August 17th 2021, at MAR Shopping, in Matosinhos, it represents the first step towards selling not only the League's merchandise, but also implementing a concept where any supporter can buy products of their club. It is the first official Liga Portugal store but the future, and thinking about Professional football, may bring news in this field!

Another of the purposes of this company is the arrangement of events throughout the sports season. It is intended that the events organised by Liga Portugal are managed and coordinated by this entity, thus creating a specialised team dedicated to this area with increasing impact and relevance. Thus, the Liga Portugal Comercial will seek to establish links and the sharing of experiences across all events, both for larger and smaller events.

In this first season of activity, a great project stands out: the organisation of the Thinking Football Summit 2022, which will have its first edition in November 2022.

The objective of Liga Portugal Centralização is to analyse and define a proposal for the future model of centralized marketing of television and media rights, and other audiovisual content, of professional football competitions in Portugal, as well as their subsequent sale.

The Decree-Law of March 2021 mandates the Centralisation of Media Rights by 202728, and it is necessary to develop the work starting now.

Based on this premise, the Liga Portugal Centralização was created, as decided at the Presidents' Summit on the 2nd of September 2021, with a view to anticipating this essential aim for the growth and development of Portuguese Professional Football.

The positioning of Liga Portugal clearly identifies the need to invest in the training of the people who bring football to the Portuguese and international public, in order to have an increasingly professional football in Portugal.

The Liga Portugal Talent Business Center aims to develop training solutions to create skills and develop talent.

There will also be a connection with the business world, through entrepreneurial projects, boosted by the new head office building of Liga Portugal, where there will be a space exclusively dedicated to business incubation.

Football and Social Responsibility should definitely walk in the same direction and side by side.

In this context, and because Liga Portugal is aware of its duties in this field and the impact it can have on Society, it has developed, through the Fundação do Futebol, some Social Responsibility actions, with the main objective of maintaining contact between these two worlds.

The creation of a structured Foundation was an ambition of the League's current Executive Board, with the project moving forward with the aim of helping to promote a fairer Society, with and for Football.

The Fundação do Futebol - Liga Portugal takes on the mission, therefore, of being a link between Sports Societies and Social Responsibility, working for a better Football and a better Society!