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Cryptocurrency firms have been busy signing deals over the last few years, with data showing 33 sponsorships have been created with soccer clubs since 2021.
According to a report by CoinGecko, the sport ranked number one for the most amount of crypto sponsorship deals to have been formed over the last three years.
The analysis describes the sport as “a primary target,” with early adopters including Manchester United, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Manchester City, and Galatasaray. Global soccer events like the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup can attract billions of viewers worldwide and many have received sponsorship from crypto firms.
Just last week, LaLiga – Spain’s leading soccer league – announced it had selected BitGet as its official cryptocurrency partner in some regions.
Nine deals were secured in 2021, 10 in 2022, just three in 2023, and then 11 in 2024.
Although the actual figure cannot be accurately accounted for, it’s estimated that over 3.5 billion people are fans of soccer making it the most popular sport in the world.
Second to soccer was motorsport with the most amount of sponsorship deals by crypto organizations. Before its collapse, FTX signed a multi-year contract with the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
Bybit and Red Bull Racing announced a deal in 2022 for $150 million. Crypto.com also signed a deal with F1 for $100 million which saw it become the official cryptocurrency partner. The sport has seen a total of 21 deals since 2021.
Crypto deals aren’t at their peak but are recovering
While a significant amount of deals have been struck, it’s only in 2024 that a rebound has started to take place. The year 2021 has been dubbed the “boom of crypto sponsorships” with a total of 33 new sponsorship deals having been forged across different sports leagues.
When the crypto bubble burst in 2022, the rate of new deals slowed which was amplified further in 2023. It’s this year that a recovery has been seen, with 26 new sponsorships signed.
One of the biggest has been from Crypto.com who secured a second deal with the UEFA Champions League, as well as BlockDAG who sealed a $10 million deal with Borussia Dortmund who play in Germany’s Bundesliga.
The number of new deals hasn’t yet surpassed 2021 levels, but crypto firms are slowly starting to re-enter the sports game.
Featured Image: Via Ideogram
