Blossoming relationship between crypto companies and the sporting world

FIFA announced earlier that Crypto.com is Official Sponsor of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022! Sure, a big event like Qatar FIFA World Cup would attract a lot of attention! A Crypto Exchange is the official Sponsor World Cup. It seems that the Crypto and the world of sports are coming together like never before, and it isn’t NEW. This tally reflects a 7,100% rise in the number of crypto sports sponsorship deals since the first was signed in 2018 and a 380% hike compared to the figure in 2020.

A report from CoinJournal shared with Unlock Media showed that crypto companies are vying with one another to gain a toehold in the lucrative global sports advertising industry. And sports franchises are more than happy to accommodate their overtures.

In 2021 alone, the top four crypto sports sponsorship deals were worth a combined total of $1.2 billion. The biggest of these was Crypto.com’s deal to acquire the naming rights of the iconic Staples Centre in Los Angeles for $700 million. FTX secured the naming rights to the home of the basketball team Miami Heat last year. Additionally, eToro has guaranteed sports partnerships with over half the clubs in the English Premier League in addition to top tier teams in mainland Europe, and lately tezos with Manchester United.

Still, it’s not just crypto exchanges that are looking to break into the sporting arena and gain from the lucrative advertising opportunities that come with it. Blockchain projects have also dialled up their engagement campaigns, tezos have struck a sponsorship deal with McLaren racing and Fantom has made F1 drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly ambassadors, and Polkadot lost the battle against Spotify for Barcelona Camp Nou naming rights.

Football has attracted more crypto sponsorship deals than any other sport. According to the report, crypto organizations have put pen to paper on at least 56 partnerships with football players, clubs, and tournaments. 

The USA has the most crypto sponsorship deals in the world. Crypto entities have 29 partnerships with sports teams in this country. The UK is close behind with 26 crypto sponsorship deals with sports teams. At the same time, a large number of sponsorship deals can also be found in continental Europe, involving sports like F1, ice hockey, or football. 

A promising relation between Crypto and sports! A relation that is going to be accelerated to another level with egaming and the role blockchain is playing in that space with innovative ideas using NFT and Metaverse.