Is This Awkward?

Crypto outfits have put $2.4 billion into sports marketing —just as crypto winter sets in

- James E. Ellis

For fans of professional sports, the overtures from the crypto industry have become almost impossible to miss: The names of exchanges and blockchain companies are emblazoned on team jerseys, plastered on stadiums, and beckoning from halftime TV commercials. They’re talked up by star players who enjoy lucrative endorsement deals.

This nascent band of businesses has moved aggressively since last year to match the advertising muscle of beer brands, carmakers, telecom service providers, and other stalwart sports sponsors.

Binance Holdings Ltd., based in the Cayman Islands, has signed contracts with soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo and the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. Coinbase Global Inc. has struck agreements with the National Basketball Association and top star Kevin Durant. FTX in the Bahamas has arrangements with Major League Baseball and franchises ranging from the NBA’s Miami Heat to e-sports squad TSM. Even the Drone Racing League is getting crypto money.

Cryptocurrency companies have committed more than $2.4 billion to sports marketing in the past 18 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, all in the name of luring more users to their Web3 world—the decentralized technology they’re billing as the next chapter of the internet.

Their largesse may prove fleeting, however. This year’s severe slump in the crypto market will test these companies’ willingness and ability to continue throwing money at leagues, teams, and athletes. But for now the deals keep coming, leading franchise owners and executives to view crypto as sports’ next great benefactor.