Nikolas Sargeant
Esports giants Fnatic join the growing list of sports organizations partnering with crypto companies
Fnatic is one of the most successful North American sports teams and has signed with crypto.com—the same company that signed a $175 million deal with the UFC earlier this year—worth $15 million dollars.
A sponsorship trend not only in sports organizations but specifically in the esports world. At the start of June, TeamSoloMid (TSM) signed a 10-year deal with the leading crypto exchange platform FTX worth $210 million. The deal will give them global exposure through the naming rights deal, as well as the fact the TSM organization represents many different games, which are popular in nations in all corners of the world.
What’s involved in the deal?
Fnatic has signed a five-year deal with crypto.com, which boasts some 10 million users. Officially the first Global cryptocurrency partnership for Fnatic, as well as the first esports partnership for crypto.com. The esports industry is fast-moving and is garnering the attention of major sponsors like Amazon, RedBull and BMW.
Gaining the kind of exposure crypto.com will get from this deal, makes it a potentially rather shrewd deal. With Formula 1, Serie A, Paris Saint-Germain, and the aforementioned UFC, crypto.com aren’t hiding their intent to establish themselves as the industry leaders.
The aim will be to offer Fnatic fans education and experience with crypto products, as well as some exclusive Fnatic NFTs, which will likely be some form of collectibles. In return, the Fnatic team will wear the crypto.com logo on the shoulder of their team jerseys. Also, there will be a number of branded in-game experiences for Fnatic fans to enjoy, as well as the crypto.com brand presence at major events.
With cryptocurrency becoming a mainstream payment method, it’s certainly the right time to get involved in the movement from Fnatic’s point of view. The nature of esports and its fans who are motivated by a digital lifestyle does lend itself to open-mindedness to digital assets. This may be one of the motivating factors for esports organizations and cryptocurrency companies to strike deals; as we see with Astralis, Natus Vincere, and the Russian esports outfit Virtus Pro all signing sponsorships with crypto companies.
