As the crypto market continues to stay in bearish territory, more and more deals with American sports teams are being taken off the table as firms tighten their belts.
FTX planned on plastering its name and logo across Los Angeles Angels jerseys as a way of marketing the exchange, but it’s not surprising that they are currently rethinking the idea due to this year’s market downturn.
Also, the Washington Wizard’s patch deal to an unannounced cryptocurrency company was suddenly cancelled just as the crypto market began its violent plunge.
The crypto firm in question could be FTX.US as the exchange’s NFT platform, and Washington D.C.-based Wizards have an ongoing partnership that was announced to great fanfare on social media. According to the NY Post, if you’re in the business of cryptocurrency and want some sway with D.C.’s political base, then signing a deal with the Wizards is a perfect way.
Joe Favorito, a sports management professor at Columbia, told the NY Post that he doesn’t believe any new partnerships will be announced while this market is down.
“What money hasn’t been spent already you’re going to see curtailed — just like we saw during the dot-com bubble.”
Crypto firms shelled out staggering amounts of cash for sponsorship deals during the last crypto boom. The LA Lakers’ home was renamed Crypto.com Arena to honour crypto.com’s $700 million payment for 20 years of naming rights. In March 2021, FTX paid Miami Heat $135 to have their home arena called FTX Arena. Additionally, Tezos is paying $27 million annually to put its logo on Manchester United uniforms.
Crypto sponsorship deals are becoming increasingly popular, with dozens of crypto companies having sponsorship agreements with sports teams worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a world where brands are trying to get ahead by any means necessary, it seems that the sponsorships for basic brand visibility have been re-thought, while deals between real-world products and NFT firms still hold strong as they provide more practical benefits.
In a recent partnership, the popular NFT horse racing platform Zed Run teamed up with global beer manufacturer Budweiser last week.
The NFL star Tom Brady has an Autograph NFT marketplace partnership with ESPN. The two are working on creating content for the sports TV network, which will be released soon. On the same day that Man in The Arena: Tom Brady documentaries aired on ESPN, Autograph launched its parallel NFT collection.
