Cryptocurrency esports crossovers are becoming increasingly popular. Today, one of the biggest publicly-disclosed esports sponsorships has come to life, courtesy of esports org TSM and crypto exchange FTX.
TSM FTX: A New Type Of Sponsorship
In one of the more ‘non-traditional’ naming rights deals, TSM will now go by ‘TSM FTX’. According to the initial report from The New York Times, the deal is valued at $210M over 10 years. The agreement includes TSM, FTX Trading Limited, and FTX.US and FTX.com owners and operators West Realm Shires Services Inc. This makes the deal the largest publicly-disclosed sponsorship deal for an esports team or organization, rivaling deals seen in major stick-and-ball sports leagues. It will allow the organization to expand globally, with new offices anticipated in Asia, Europe, and South America. Global expansion is anticipated to take place over the next five years.
TSM competes across major esports titles including League of Legends, Valorant, Fortnite, and more. As part of the deal, the org will purchase $1M worth of FTX’s native token, FTT. The tokens will be distributed to employees and players.
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Breaking Ground
We’ve seen companies like BlockFi implement casual sponsorships with organizations and streamers for brand visibility on Twitch. We have even seen organizations such as Dignitas partnering with digital bank QNTMPAY, or G2 Esports partnering with NFT platform Bondly. In fact, Dignitas’ partnership with QNTMPAY was also a naming rights deal for the team and it’s academy. However, TSM is one of the most popular names in esports, with a valuation of nearly $500M according to a Forbes report in December – topping the list.
Despite a public valuation at the top of the list, TSM CEO Andy Dinh sees the FTX deal as empowering the organizations growth. “We want to truly be a global esports team. We have to invest in having bases in multiple places”, Dinh stated. Additionally, the deal is also expected to have a philanthropic component, to be announced in the future.
FTX's native token, FTT, will be distributed to TSM employees and players as part of the partnership. | Source: FTT-USD on TradingView.com
For FTX, It Doesn’t Stop At Esports…
FTX is continuing to be aggressive in sport sponsorship; today’s deal comes just a few months after locking in naming right’s for the NBA’s Miami Heat arena – replacing long-time sponsor American Airlines.
FTX clearly sees the value in the ties between crypto and esports as well. In a statement to the Times, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried stated that “taking a huge industry and reimagining it in a digital age: that’s sort of what esports are to sports, and it’s sort of what crypto is to investing and to finance”.
Related Reading | Fintech Firm Mercuryo Locks In Esports Partnership
Featured image from Pixabay, Charts from TradingView.com