Crypto.com has purchased a Super Bowl ad, extending its extensive sports marketing campaign. So far, there have been two: In October, FTX purchased a space.
Crypto.com has purchased a Super Bowl ad
The Wall Street Journal reported today that Crypto.com has purchased a Super Bowl ad. The cost of a 30-second commercial in this year’s game is reportedly $6.5 million.
It’s the latest step in the exchange’s sports sponsorship initiative. Crypto.com reportedly paid $700 million for the naming rights to the Staples Center, home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, earlier this month.
The exchange also became a sponsor for the Coppa Italia final, Italy’s most famous soccer cup tournament, earlier this year. To commemorate the occasion, an NFT collection was created as part of the agreement.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek wants the exchange to become one of the top 20 consumer brands in the world in the next three to five years, putting it in the company of sports and tech heavyweights like Nike and Apple.
“Diving into other sports allows me to reach out to everyone no matter where they are,” she says, “Marszalek said. “The Super Bowl is just another step in that direction,” he says.
The crypto industry’s drive into sports
Marszalek’s ambition to become a top consumer brand sounds eerily similar to what FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (Decrypt’s Founder of the Year) said about his company’s own sports deal push.
At a Decrypt and Yahoo Finance live event in November, Bankman-Fried said, “We’ve come a long way in terms of name recognition.” “We’ve found that when people are looking to get into crypto for the first time, they haven’t heard of FTX.”
FTX has been spending to change that, and in October it purchased its own Super Bowl ad.
FTX signed a major deal with the NBA’s Miami Heat in April, becoming the team’s “official and exclusive” cryptocurrency partner.
The Heat’s home stadium, the American Airlines Arena, was renamed the FTX Arena as part of the arrangement.
The Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards, and Capitals have all recently signed deals with FTX US, and even MLB umpires wear the crypto exchange’s insignia on their jerseys.
Coinbase has carved up a niche for itself elsewhere in the NBA. The newly public exchange secured a sponsorship arrangement with the NBA and WNBA in October, making it the league’s and WNBA’s official cryptocurrency partners.
Coinbase also signed an agreement with NBA star and Brooklyn Net Kevin Durant earlier this month.
Surely, Crypto.com and FTX will not be the only cryptocurrency companies advertising during Super Bowl 56. Will Coinbase be the next company to purchase a space?