While some deals are nearing their end, other doors have opened this past week as well, demonstrating the significant crossover that sports and cryptocurrency continue to experience. Instable or unsustainable players will be shaken out by bear markets, and effective and efficient players will be pushed to the limit.
Young athletes have continued to be interested in developing products, and exchanges have continued to find new deals despite CeFi platforms’ decline and the uncertainty it brings to sports deals.
Reviewing the past week’s sports and cryptocurrency activity
Sports Slice
Latest from NIL: UVA Linebacker’s New NFT Initiative
Regardless of specialty, builders are valued in cryptocurrency. In order to provide name, image, and likeness (NIL) resources to student-athletes across the United States, UVA defensive end Jack Camper has teamed up with three longtime friends and fellow athletes to launch “College Cards NFTs.” A camper reportedly told Richmond.com:
“We really don’t see anyone else doing what we’re doing. 8712 percent of the sale is owned, sold, and received by the athlete. We granted them the ability to design their own NFTs so that the purchaser would have a special experience. More players run it. The sale is more personalized because there is a stronger relationship involved.
Sports Sponsorships Are In Doubt Following Voyager’s Bankruptcy
Voyager, which has one of the largest sponsorship deals in NWSL history, filed for bankruptcy last week, adding it to the list of crypto’s collapsing institutions. The deal raises concerns about what will happen to the emerging and successful women’s soccer league as well as the centralized exchange in the future.
The Dallas Mavericks, owned by Mark Cuban, have a long-standing relationship with Voyager, which will also be the subject of speculation, so the NWSL is not the only organization dealing with relationship uncertainty. Fans are already ‘lashing out’ at Cuban for making the deal, according to a hit piece in the New York Post. Last but not least, Voyager also has partnerships with specific athletes, such as Rob Gronkowski of the NFL and Landon Cassill of NASCAR.
There aren’t many case studies to consider here, but it’s interesting to note that the Terra Luna brand assets are still being displayed by the Washington Nationals behind home plate despite the ugly mass crash of the LUNA token earlier this year (following the UST depeg drama).
OKX Agrees To Sponsor Manchester City’s Training Kits
While some sponsorships have been called into question, it appears that others have either blossomed into new partnerships or strengthened existing ones (recently, Cristiano Ronaldo and Binance). Exchange OKX, who earlier in the year joined dominant football club Manchester City, was one instance this past week. After the trade, the company gained the right to serve as the club’s official training kit partner for the 2022–2023 campaign.
The expanded partnership will bring the defending Premier League champions more than $20 million this season, according to a Forbes report that cited a source. Financial information regarding the expansion of the partnership has not yet been made public.
Despite the strengthening of this agreement, it does so at a time when the once-hot cryptocurrency sponsorship market has cooled to a lukewarm temperature. According to sports industry veteran Joe Favorito, “the market has definitely slowed… You haven’t seen the name of an arena changed or a patch removed from an umpire’s uniform. However, ancillary spending, including that for events like the NBA Finals and significant advertisements, has been significantly reduced.
How NFTs Might Drive the Upcoming Sports Memorabilia Wave
According to a recent report from Market Decipher, the sports memorabilia market will reach almost $230 billion by 2032, representing a significant growth rate over the following ten years. The market’s current size is estimated by the company to be around $26 billion based on figures from 2021, with NFTs currently valued at $1.4 billion and expected to grow to $92 billion by 2032. According to that forecast, NFTs will make up about 40% of all collectibles in ten years.
The growth of NBA Top Shot is frequently cited as a reflection of broader sports engagement across the NFT landscape, and sports collectibles are arguably the source of crypto engagement in sports.
