Sports aren't really my thing, and even e-sports leave me flailing. Before, I wouldn't have been able to tell you what AIG on a Manchester United shirt meant, or Emirates on a Chelsea shirt. But these days, I recognize OKX as the sponsor on Manchester City's jersey. My family, huge sports fans, are surprised to learn their favorite teams are all hooked up with crypto: Manchester United with Tezos, Barcelona with Chiliz, Bayern Munich with Bitpanda...[2]. Even legends like Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi are jumping on the bandwagon with their own NFT collections [3, 4]! It turns out, crypto is everywhere in sports – sponsoring teams, tournaments, and events across football, basketball, racing, and more [5].
The surging popularity of crypto companies as sponsors in sporting events comes as no surprise. Their financial windfall fuels high-profile sponsorships, putting their brands before a global audience of sports fans and athletes. This exposure fosters brand recognition and loyalty among fans, who are more likely to develop a preference for sponsor brands, from footwear and apparel to beverages and, most notably, jersey endorsements. It appears the golden age of banks and airlines dominating sports sponsorships has faded due to economic turbulence, paving the way for crypto companies to swiftly establish themselves as a new sponsorship powerhouse.
I hope this new advertising channel offers a promising way to bring crypto to a massive new audience. Investors will likely be drawn to crypto's potential for growth and asset protection, injecting fresh capital to fuel the market's growth and maturity. We welcome these new investors not as liquidity providers, but as partners in building a more mature crypto ecosystem.
I would like to know your opinion on the strategy of promoting crypto brands through sports:
- Can sports effectively raise awareness and trust for crypto brands?
- Does sponsorship influence fans to trust the crypto brand associated with their favorite team or athlete?
- Does the frequent presence of crypto sponsorships in sports signal mainstream acceptance and growing popularity of crypto?
References:
[1] Google Updates Advertising Policy for Crypto, Allows ETF Ads
[2] Most Valuable Crypto-Backed Sports Teams in the World in 2024
[3] The CR7 ForeverZone
[4] Lionel Messi NFT Sold for $1 million on Ethernity
[5] Why crypto companies are scooping up big sports sponsorships