When Crypto.com stamped its name on Los Angeles’ main sports arena, the crypto exchange’s boss Kris Marszalek said the $700mn deal marked “the moment that cryptocurrencies . . . crossed the chasm into the mainstream”.
Renaming the home of the LA Lakers National Basketball Association team in November opened the floodgates to a series of multimillion-dollar marketing deals and partnerships between digital asset companies flush with cash and sports franchises that can deliver millions of potential customers.
Rival exchanges Coinbase, Crypto.com and FTX bought Super Bowl ads this year, which cost a reported $7mn for just 30 seconds of airtime. The home of NBA team the Miami Heat is now the FTX Arena — part of a 19-year deal for the exchange led by Sam Bankman-Fried, and Coinbase became the “exclusive cryptocurrency platform partner” for the NBA and WNBA in October.