Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama is a Brazilian sports club that was founded on August 21, 1898 (although the professional football department started on November 5, 1915), by Portuguese immigrants, and still has a strong fanbase among the Portuguese community of Rio de Janeiro. It is one of the most popular clubs in Brazil, with more than 10 million supporters.[3] Although they compete in a number of different sports, Vasco is mostly known for its football team. It plays in the Campeonato Carioca, the state of Rio de Janeiro s premier state league, and in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football league system.