On July 14, 23.9 million devices connected simultaneously to a single YouTube stream, broadcasting a World Cup semifinal match between Spain and France to viewers in Brazil via CazéTV, as reported by the Catalan news outlet viaempresa.cat. It marked the highest peak viewership in YouTube’s history for a live broadcast. Yet the more revealing metric from that tournament lies in the medium itself: over 70% of CazéTV’s consumption time in Brazil occurred through connected smart TVs rather than mobile devices.
Millions of viewers bypassed traditional channel numbers on their remote controls to stream the matches on YouTube from their living rooms. For decades, acquiring a broadcasting monopoly required securing frequency bands, entering pay-TV packages, or negotiating complex distribution deals with national operators. CazéTV operates without a traditional broadcast channel allocation, yet it broadcast all 104 matches of a FIFA World Cup free of charge.
The Partnership Behind the Screen
Casimiro Miguel provides the recognizable face, language, and emotional core of the platform, delivering sports commentary that discards traditional broadcasting conventions in favor of humor, organic reactions, and direct conversation with the audience. Behind the public-facing personality sits LiveMode, founded in 2017 by Edgar Diniz and Sergio Lopes, both executives formerly behind the Brazilian sports channel Esporte Interativo, which Turner acquired in 2015. Long before CazéTV’s inception, its leadership managed negotiations with sports federations, clubs, and media rights holders.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar accelerated these ambitions. LiveMode identified an opening in Brazil’s digital rights market for the tournament and built CazéTV around Casimiro just weeks prior to kickoff, turning an experimental broadcast into an audience phenomenon. By late 2025, structural shifts consolidated the enterprise: LiveMode acquired Casimiro’s remaining 49% stake in CazéTV to assume 100% ownership of the channel, while Casimiro retained a position within the broader corporate ownership structure.
Global Expansion and Capital Inflow
Institutional capital followed the audience growth. General Atlantic and XP acquired minority stakes in LiveMode in 2024, aligning with a broader strategy to scale sports intellectual property investments. In 2026, Cristiano Ronaldo acquired a significant stake in LiveModeTV, a newly established subsidiary designed to export the model beyond Brazil.
LiveModeTV has already initiated international operations in Portugal. Following the World Cup, the subsidiary partnered with DAZN to stream selected UEFA Champions League and Premier League matches for free on YouTube on a weekly basis, signaling a broader structural shift in how live sports rights are distributed and monetized globally.
Related reading
