Crypto deals in sport up 20 per cent to over £400m
Sponsorship of sports organisations by crypto brands has increased by 20 per cent to over £400m with football driving new business, new research shows.
The $565m spent by the blockchain-anchored organisations in the past season is closing in on the 2022-23 peak, when $685m was spent (£508m), according to SportQuake data.
Nearly two thirds – 20 out of 34 – of new crypto sponsorship deals have come in football while Formula 1 and its teams’ annual income from the exchanges amounts to $174m.
But the spend is coming outside of the USA with President Trump’s crypto viewpoint as yet unconfirmed, with Premier League front-of-shirt spots potentially the next battleground with a voluntary betting sponsor ban coming into force from the 2026/27 season.
SportQuake’s latest Marketplace report states that Crypto.com remains the biggest spender, splashing out over $210m in live deals across this season.
Coinbase ($80m), OKX ($71m) and Gate.io ($53m) all breached the $50m mark while the likes of BingX completed the top 10, spending $13m.
Crypto.com’s major deals with the Uefa Champions League and Formula 1 amount for the largest spends but OKX’s deal with McLaren and Gate.io’s deal with Red Bull shows a maintained interest in Formula 1.
Crypto rising
“The bulls are back,” SportQuake chief Matt House said. “The crypto winter of 2022/23 seems a long time ago as crypto sports sponsorship spend bounces back towards all-time highs.
“All the growth is from football and non-US spend as brands invest in global sponsorships and international markets while they wait to see President Trump’s US crypto policies.
“Gate.io’s super aggressive entry into sports went from $0-$53 million in 12 months and Kraken added Tottenham Hotspur, Atletico Madrid and RB Leipzig sleeve sponsorships to their Williams F1 deal.
“Looking ahead, key market signals suggest that crypto exchanges are likely to become major front-of-shirt buyers, as the Premier League’s ban on betting companies purchasing this inventory takes effect in the 2026/27 season.”