FTX continues it’s tear of sports sponsorship and engagement. In June, the growing exchange signed on with future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. The exchange also signed a league deal with Major League Baseball and a naming rights deal with powerhouse esports organization TSM in the same month.
Safe to say it’s been quite a ‘partnerships summer’ for the growing company. Did we mention this was all after securing a massive naming rights deal to the NBA’s Miami Heat arena earlier in the year?
This week, FTX announced their latest sports ambassador, NBA superstar Stephen Curry.
Things Move Fast Around Here
It was just last week that Steph Curry secured himself a Bored Ape. Our team at Bitcoinist just yesterday covered Curry’s inquisitive crypto tweet. The tweet solicited replies from some of crypto’s biggest names, including Michael Saylor, Charles Hoskinson, and more. Curry secured the deal with FTX less than 24 hours later, leading many to believe that he was generating buzz before the announcement.
The partnership with FTX will include an equity deal for Curry, and will ingrain Curry’s charitable foundation, Eat.Learn.Play in the relationship with the crypto exchange. FTX will make an annual donation to the foundation, which is aimed towards building a brighter future for children.
Curry joins the ranks of the aforementioned Tom Brady and incoming NFL quarterback Trevor Lawrence on the roster of FTX’s athlete ambassadors.
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What Else Are They Scorin’?
FTX has been making aggressive plays in traditional sport sponsorship, esports, and in other growth initiatives in and out of sport. The exchange recently acquired derivatives exchange LedgerX. Additionally, founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Friedman wrote a hefty half million dollar check towards nonprofit Bitcoin development organization Brink.
In sport and entertainment, FTX has shown creative initiatives in their investments as well. Beyond the aforementioned engagement with traditional sports stars, teams, and properties, FTX has been involved in a Bitcoin-fueled chess tournament, and even sponsored Axie Infinity players in developing countries.
The exchange has clearly taken a balanced yet aggressive approach in partners. However, don’t expect them to lay on their laurels either. FTX and US-specific exchange FTX.US are likely to find more premium talent, teams and properties in both traditional and emerging sports, if the past six months are any indication of future activity.
While many other exchanges are facing scrutiny, most visibly Coinbase’s public dispute with the SEC, FTX and FTX.US are in prime position to find more partners to build their market share, both domestically in the U.S. and beyond.
The platform token for crypto exchange FTX has seen strong growth this year as the emerging exchange looks to be a more prominent player in the U.S. | Source: FTT-USD on TradingView.com
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Featured image from nba.com/warriors, Charts from TradingView.com