Following agreements with the UFC, Formula 1, Paris Saint-Germain, and others, the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has added another sports partner.
A little more than a week after announcing its first esports partner in the form of Fnatic, cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com‘s sports sponsorship spending spree continues with the announcement of a partnership with the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers today.
The cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com will become the team’s official jersey patch partner, with the emblem of the exchange appearing on the left shoulder of all four iterations of the 76ers’ new uniform. The exchange will serve as the team’s foreign marketing partner, and it will be able to use the 76ers’ branding in its marketing and advertising campaigns.
The team’s Wells Fargo Center venue in Philadelphia will also have Crypto.com branding, which will be shown on both the baseline apron and courtside displays. In addition, Crypto.com will have an advertising presence on the 76ers’ television broadcasts, social media platforms, and marketing channels as part of the agreement.
the future has arrived. @CryptoCom | #CryptoHoops pic.twitter.com/8OdMD8GivG
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) September 22, 2021Additionally, Crypto.com will make available through its marketplace the first official NFT collectibles from the team. NFTs are used to transfer ownership of a digital asset that has been proven to be rare.
They can be used to represent photographs, video files, and other forms of collectibles. NBA Top Shot, developed by Dapper Labs, has proven to be one of the most popular NFT projects to date.
In today’s announcement, 76ers Head of Business Operations Chris Heck defined the arrangement as a “long-term partnership,” although the financial terms and duration of the agreement were not mentioned.
In recent months, Crypto.com has entered into a number of partnerships across the sports landscape, including with leagues such as Formula 1 and the Ultimate Fighting Championshi.
This also comes with teams such as the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, soccer club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., and Formula One’s Aston Martin Cognizant Racing. This is the first time that the exchange has worked with an NBA franchise.
a bitcoin exchange with a competitive advantage TSM, the NBA’s Miami Heat, and Major League Baseball are among the teams that FTX has signed sponsorship agreements with in 2021. Athletes such as Tom Brady and Stephen Curry have also signed partnerships with the company in the sports sponsorship arena.
just had a great chat with @SBF_FTX, asked him if he can tell for sure that all the sports sponsorships are boosting customer acquisition. He said he can’t quite prove that, but anecdotally it has been huge for name brand awareness. “You can’t just buy that with Facebook ads.”
— Daniel Roberts (@readDanwrite) September 15, 2021This increase in spending has coincided with an increase in web traffic to FTX in recent months.
According to FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, while he couldn’t prove that the company’s sports sponsorship efforts are increasing customer acquisition, the company’s name recognition has increased dramatically, according to Decrypt Editor-in-Chief Daniel Roberts, who spoke with him last week.
Regarding FTX’s sports deals, Bankman-Fried stated that they could not be purchased through Facebook advertising.
Crypto.com may be hoping for the same kind of increase in public awareness that FTX has experienced in recent months, though it is unclear whether this has occurred so far. A look at web traffic data from SimilarWeb shows that the cryptocurrency has not experienced the same kind of increase in recent months.
The CEO of Crypto.com, Kris Marszalek, refused to provide specifics when questioned about the impact of the company’s sports agreements to date. Instead, he told Decrypt, “We have been overwhelmed by how well all of our partnerships have been received by fans around the world.”