ABSTRACT
Football is the most important and promoted sport in Portugal, with the highest number of practitioners. Moreover, it is usually the subject of everyday talks within the Portuguese society (Coelho & Tiesler, 2007). On the professional scene it has been dominated by three clubs: Benfica, Porto, and Sporting. Less frequently, other clubs succeeded temporarily to break the hegemony of these three clubs, such as Boavista, Vitória de Guimarães, and more recently Braga. However, their lower financial muscles and media projection undermine their ambitions to become “one of the big clubs in Portuguese football” in the longer run. The domination of the three is confirmed by the fact that since the first edition of the Portuguese League in 1934–1935, 74 of the 76 editions are won by one of them (Benfica: 32; Porto: 24; and Sporting: 18). Only Belenenses in 1945–1946, and more recently Boavista in 2000–2001 have managed to overcome the three big teams in one single season.
