Sport Lisboa e Benfica ( ; commonly referred to as simply Benfica, S.L. Benfica and in many fan anthems as SLB [ɛsɨ ɛɫɨ be]) is an eclectic multisports club based in Lisbon, Portugal, best known for its football team. Sport Lisboa e Benfica was founded in 1904 by a group of twenty-four men. The club's main stadium is the Estádio da Luz.
They were founding members of Portuguese Liga in 1933, and, together with FC Porto and Sporting CP, they have never been relegated from the Primeira Divisão. Benfica is the most successful club in Portugal with a total of 31 Portuguese Liga, 27 Portuguese Cup, 4 SuperCup Cândido de Oliveira, 2 UEFA Champions League and 1 Latin Cup. SL Benfica has also participated in a total of seven European Champion's League finals and one UEFA Cup final, being the Portuguese clube to reach more european competitions finals.
As a club oriented to multiple sports, Benfica has departments for athletics, basketball, cycling, football, futsal, handball, judo, rink hockey, rugby, swimming, volleyball, and others. In total, Benfica has won several titles in these sports.
SL Benfica has the biggest fan base among portuguese clubs, having also the largest number of supporters outside of Portugal for a Portuguese club, with a total of 14 million Benfica's supporters worldwide. It is also the biggest club in the world in number of associates (registered paying supporters), with a current (November 2006) number of 160,398, a fact which was attested by the Guinness Book of Records on November 10 2006.
During the 2005-06 season, SL Benfica was ranked 20th in the Deloitte Football Money League with an estimated revenue of €85.1 million, being the first Portuguese club to appear in the ranking.
In September 2007, SL Benfica was considered the 17th most valuable Footbal brand in Europe, by BBDO. Benfica is then the most valuable football brand in Portugal and 4th in the Iberian Peninsula (after Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia). http://www.bbdo.de/de/home/presse/aktuell/2007/19_09_2007_-_real0.download.Par.0001.Link1Download.File1Title.pdf
