The Golden State Warriors have agreed to a $10 million foreign rights partnership with cryptocurrency exchange FTX, as the cryptocurrency exchange grows its presence in sports
FTX’s Presence in Sport Increases
FTX is growing its presence in sports by signing a multi-million dollar international rights sponsorship deal with the Golden State Warriors, one of the most well-known teams in the NBA (NBA).
While the terms of the transaction have not been revealed, insiders close to the situation told CNBC that the multi-year pact between the Warriors and the cryptocurrency exchange is worth more than $10 million.
According to CoinGecko, FTX.com is the industry’s fifth-largest crypto exchange, with more than $3.1 billion in trading volume in the last 24 hours.
The Warriors’ G League squad and the NBA 2K esports team will allegedly receive brand space as part of the arrangement, as well as in-arena signage at Chase Center, the San Francisco-based team’s home stadium.
During Warriors’ Regional Sports Network (RSN) games, the crypto trading platform will also have rights to the team’s non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and virtual floor inventory.
Golden State Warriors president Brandon Schneider told CNBC, “FTX is a startup that attracted our eye a few months ago.” “We believe we’ve arrived at the start of the beginning.” We’re all still learning, and this area will continue to change.”
In addition, the NBA team and FTX each donated one Bitcoin to local nonprofits Self-eSTEM, Mission Bit, and Techbridge Girls, all of which focus on educational equity.
FTX is betting heavily on sports marketing
This isn’t the first time the cryptocurrency exchange has spent a lot of money to promote its brand through sports.
The Miami Heat, another NBA team, struck a $135 million deal with the exchange in April, renaming their home arena FTX Arena for the next 19 years.
In June, FTX paid $210 million for the 10-year name rights to TSM, an American esports professional club, followed by a $17.5 million transaction with the Cal Berkeley football team in August, which saw the exchange obtain naming rights to Cal Memorial Stadium.
The MLB, America’s leading baseball league, also signed a five-year arrangement with FTX earlier this year, which includes an FTX patch on umpire uniforms and promotion rights across multiple MLB-affiliated outlets, from physical games to social media.
Other big cryptocurrency exchanges are also looking into new marketing potential in the sports business.
Singapore-based Crypto.com purchased the naming rights to the Staples Center, home of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, and Los Angeles Clippers, and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, for an astounding $700 million contract that will run for the next two decades.
Meanwhile, Coinbase, America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced a multi-year relationship with the NBA in October, making it the NBA’s, WNBA’s, NBA G League, NBA 2K League, and USA Basketball’s exclusive cryptocurrency platform partner.
