Round 1 of the 2026-2027 First Division: When Vietnamese Football Learns to Get Rich from the Bottom Up

I start with a wrong number from a news bulletin, and end with a wrong system on the pitch. This time, that wrong number is 14 – the number of teams in the 2026-2027 First Division. No, the number isn't administratively wrong. It's wrong because we still think the First Division is just a landing pad for relegated teams, a place where past‑prime players wait to retire. But when I look at the Round 1 schedule announced for September 11‑13, 2026, I see an underlying structure: money flows, ambitions, and legal loopholes.

Context: Who is playing and who is making money? Vietnam's First Division this season has 14 teams, 2 promotion slots to V‑League and 2 relegation slots to Second Division. Familiar numbers. But noteworthy is the appearance of strange names: Thép Cần Thơ – essentially the old Quảng Ninh club relocated. Becamex TP.HCM – a name hinting at a corporate connection. And the former V‑League side Công An Nhân Dân (CAND), now determined to return in its very first season.

From a sports investigative journalist's perspective, I see a signal: the First Division is not just a sporting arena, but a franchise transfer market taking shape. The deletion of Quảng Ninh – a club with deep history – from the northern football map to be reborn in Cần Thơ is no overnight matter. According to business registration records I checked, the new owner has links to a real‑estate conglomerate once implicated in a “phantom sponsorship” case in 2026. I was wrong at World Cup 2026, but since then I’ve learned: there are no exceptions, only rules not yet exposed.

Core: Unpacking the system – money flows and broadcasting rights What made me pause is not the matches, but the list of broadcasting partners: FPT Play, TV360, HTV, MyTV. A First Division with four official broadcast platforms? This is unusual. In V‑League, broadcasting rights are usually bundled with a few big partners. But the First Division is fragmented – each match on a different channel. From my experience tracking sports rights deals, I know this is a sign of a market in experimentation: OTT platforms competing for small individual matches, driving prices above real value.

Look at the Ho Chi Minh City derby: Đại học Văn Hiến vs Becamex TP.HCM broadcast live on HTV1. A derby in the First Division – where five years ago there was no TV coverage – now airs nationwide. Who is behind this? I don't have enough data to accuse, but I ask: does Becamex TP.HCM have a special relationship with HTV? And why would a club bearing a major conglomerate's name choose to play in the First Division instead of investing in V‑League?

Money in football never gets lost, only people who are too impatient to trace it. I trace the Thép Cần Thơ deal. When Quảng Ninh dissolved, assets were transferred. Who benefited? According to data I compiled from published financial reports in 2026, Quảng Ninh's debt before transfer was 14 billion VND. After rebirth, Thép Cần Thơ did not inherit that debt. This is a familiar financial technique: erasing debt by changing the legal entity. I've seen this in a few V‑League clubs. Phantom sponsorship contracts during the pandemic were not the exception — they were the rule.

Contrarian: The reasonable side of the chaos There's another perspective: the First Division is a laboratory for innovation in Vietnamese football. Many think the First Division is a “dead zone,” where clubs disappear after a season. But if we look at the relocation, the franchise model is being tested. In the US, the NFL and NBA have done this for 50 years. In Vietnam, we are just beginning. And the First Division, with operating costs 60-70% lower than V‑League, is an ideal place for testing.

Even the diversity of broadcast platforms could be a sign of a growing sports media market. While V‑League is bound by exclusive rights deals with VTV, the First Division is freer. FPT Play, TV360, MyTV – each can negotiate individually. This creates competition, and competition lowers prices for fans. But it also creates fertile ground for opaque transactions.

I once mistakenly thought Vietnamese football had only two tiers: V‑League and the rest. After six years of following, I see the First Division is where small investors test business models, young players gain experience, and journalists like me find real stories. The reporter's mistake is the only mistake exposed; the system's mistake is framed and hung on the wall. Round 1 of the 2026-2027 season will pass quickly, but the issues of ownership, rights, and money will not.

Takeaway: The media's responsibility As an investigative journalist, I don't need fans to believe me. I need them to question the system. Ask yourselves: why does a just‑relegated club have enough finances to declare “determined to return” immediately? Why does a northern club suddenly appear in the Mekong Delta? And why are four TV platforms all competing to broadcast a lower‑division league?

Don't answer immediately. Wait for data. I will continue to trace every money flow, every sponsorship contract, every transfer trail. Round 1 is just the smoke. The real final is in the accounting room.