Crypto is taking the world by storm, and its recent partnerships with the soccer industry only increase its stature. To think that in just a decade, crypto companies are worth billions of dollars, and have become mainstream is nothing short of impressive. Its partnership with soccer is a big factor in its popularity. 

This monumental rise of crypto continues to explore new heights. Arguably the most-watched sports tournament on the planet – the FIFA World Cup is now sponsored by crypto.com. This begs the question, will awareness of digital currency skyrocket in the near term? 

Sponsorship is nothing new in soccer for crypto companies, but the World Cup is the first time a major sporting event sees a crypto company being the title sponsor. An estimated 3 billion people will tune in to watch the tournament, and all will see crypto.com plastered around the stadiums. 

Sponsorships 

Crypto.com has joined major companies like McDonalds and Coca-Cola by becoming a title sponsor of the FIFA World Cup. The company reportedly paid $700m for the deal, which aims to drive significant awareness to the cryptocurrency exchange. 

In addition to exchanges, bookmakers are also entering the space. Punters can enjoy crypto sports betting at BC.Game casino, made famous because of its partnership with the Argentina men’s soccer team. The deal sees star players, Messi, Dybala, and Di Maria connect and engage with BC.game players on the platform. 

Many crypto platforms have jumped on the soccer bandwagon before the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The earliest was when Bitcoin.org sponsored the Premier League club, Watford. The iconic Bitcoin logo was placed on the arm of the shirt, and made headlines at the time. 

Moreover, Stake.com signed a deal with Everton to be the main shirt sponsor from the 2022/23 season. It’s reported the crypto casino pays Everton £10m a year for the privilege. 

Besides crypto casinos and crypto.com, other exchanges are getting in on the action too. Manchester City signed a deal with OKx, a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange to be the official crypto partner. It is rumored that OKx paid $20m for the sponsorship agreement. 

Fan Tokens

The company Chiliz developed the Socios platform, which created the idea of fan tokens. Users are able to buy and sell all different fan tokens on the platform, which allows fans to get closer to the action. Currently, Socios has 120+ partners in the soccer industry, and continues to grow to this day! 

To get started, you just need to purchase some Chiliz ($CHZ) and from there you can exchange for any of the fan tokens available. Chiliz has plenty of international soccer teams competing in the FIFA World Cup to choose from. The largest two by market cap are the Brazilian Fan Token ($BFT), and the Argentine Fan Token ($ARG). However, for the time being, club fan tokens are much more popular. 

All the big clubs have a token, from Barcelona to Liverpool. Fan tokens allow fans to make mostly minor decisions related to their clubs. These include merchandise preferences, win unique experiences and earn rewards. 

The price of the token fluctuates depending on the market, so if a team is doing well, expect the price to increase. The development started off with just club teams but has since expanded into national teams, and even other sports like UFC and boxing. 

NFTs 

Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are the hottest craze in the crypto space. NFTs are a unique digital identifiers which cannot be subdivided or copied. In the soccer space, the technology is used for trading cards, videos, games and images, and has proved to be popular with fans. 

For the World Cup in Qatar, FIFA has recently launched the FIFA+ Collect, which allows fans to own and collect FIFA World Cup moments, like Geoff Hurst’s iconic goal against West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final. 

The platform will be powered by Algorand, a decentralized finance application blockchain, which is carbon neutral and accessible via multiple currencies. 

The most prestigious award in soccer, Ballon D’or has also launched a collection of NFTs, built on Pyrite, the stone used in the trophies awarded. Buyers of the NFTs get real life experiences as a perk of owning a pyrite. The most prominent is that you have the chance to attend the ceremony, where the world’s best soccer player will be crowned. 

Final Thoughts 

Nobody can deny the close links crypto and soccer have built together in the short term. Going forward the trend will only continue to grow. 

As NFTs are becoming more popular, football clubs as well as international teams are taking advantage of the new technology. And with the continued marketing of NFTs and crypto companies, adoption will eventually be widespread. 

It will only be a matter of time until a player is transferred in a cryptocurrency, which will be a watershed moment for the digital currencies. It will be a when, not an if when it occurs.