Football sponsorship deals have been the norm throughout the beautiful game since the 1970s, but there’s a new form of sponsorship that has begun to take over.
Over the last few years in particular, cryptocurrency firms have been signing huge mega-money deals with some of the world’s biggest clubs.
We are living in an era where the football and crypto worlds are merging closer together, especially with gambling sposnsorships on the decline.
Here at SportsLens, we take a closer look at the seven biggest crypto sponsorship deals in football.
7. Manchester United’s Sponsorship With Tezos
Manchester United are one of the biggest and most famous teams on the planet, and it’s no real surprise that they have joined forces with blockchain company Tezos.
The multi-year sponsorship was signed in February 2022, and is thought to be worth £20m a year to the Red Devils. As part of the agreement, United will display the Tezos logo on their training kits for the men’s and women’s teams.
6. Bitso’s Three-Year Partnership With Sao Paulo
It’s not just European powerhouses who are joining the crypto currency bandwagon. South American giants Sao Paulo signed a three-year partnership with Bitso in 2022.
The Latin American crypto exchange company will have their logo appear on the official shirts until 2025. Fans of the Brazilian side are able to purchase tickets and merchandise with cryptocurrencies.
https://t.co/LcJlgHZ5uA "Significant sponsorship from cryptocurrency exchange Bitso and Sao Paulo" #Bitcoin #Altcoin #Btc #Crypto pic.twitter.com/qrgr0jlsoL
— Bitcoinheat (@Bitcoinheatcom) January 7, 2022
5. Chelsea’s £20m Sponsorship With WhaleFin
In May 2022, Chelsea agreed a £20m per-year deal with WhaleFin. They are part of the Amber Group Cryptocurrency firm and the agreement saw the WhaleFin logo being displayed on the sleeves of the official shirt.
However, the partnership was terminated after seven months due to the crypto crash. The deal has been put in place just a few days after Todd Boehly took control of the club.
Chelsea FC: Amber Group will become the club’s official sleeve partner, with the logo of WhaleFin – the company’s flagship digital asset platform – emblazoned across the kit of both the men’s and women’s teams from the start of the 2022/23 season. #cfc pic.twitter.com/Mk3ntKhIle
— CFCDaily (@CFCDaily) May 12, 2022
4. AS Roma And Zytara Labs Deal
Serie A side AS Roma signed a three-year partnership with cryptocurrency firm Zytara Labs in 2021. The Italian side had the DigitalBits logo displayed on their shirts after agreeing a huge £72m deal.
Two years into the deal, Roma threatened to remove the logo after continued nonpayment. Naturally, this caused embarrassment to the club and the deal was eventually scrapped.
UPGRADE REBOOT
Digitalbits 🔄 SPQR
AS Roma always deliver sartorial elegance. Just shows what a difference a sponsor can make!! pic.twitter.com/cnD7SInXhq
— F⚽️⚽️TBALL ShIrTALIA (@FutbolShIrTALIA) May 9, 2023
3. Atletico Madrid’s Sponsorship With WhaleFin
Similar to Chelsea’s experience with WhaleFin, Atletico’s sponsorship with the Singapore-based crypto exchange firm didn’t last too long.
Financial difficulties saw huge sums of money not paid to the La Liga giants, and they even went on to sue WhaleFin in November 2023.
2. Manchester City’s Mega-Money Sponsorship With OKX
Unsurprisingly, Premier League giants Manchester City dipped into the cryptocurrency sponsorship world with OKX. The deal was signed in March 2022 for a reported £55m over three years.
Since then, two more deals have been signed between the two parties. At first, OKX became the Cityzen’s official cryptocurrency partner before sponsoring the club’s training kits.
Don’t miss out on the chance to claim your FREE @mancity Champions of the World digital collectible 🏆
This is your last chance! 👉 https://t.co/kzxfJQsXWa#OKXManCity pic.twitter.com/CFQhWoBuiM
— OKX (@okx) January 19, 2024
1. Inter’s Record-Breaking Deal With Zytara Labs
Inter Milan’s huge deal with Zytara Labs was a groundbreaking deal for the Serie A side. However, things didn’t go to plan with the cryptocurrency firm.
£78.5m was agreed to be paid to the Italians over the course of their partnership but financial issues ended the deal early. AS Roma can certainly feel Inter’s frustrations.
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