Crypto sports sponsorship spend rockets 20% to US$565m

Crypto.com leads the pack as the primary investor in 2024/25, with major partnerships in the UEFA Champions League and Formula One, pushing its total spend to an impressive US$213 million (AUD$331 million).

Commenting on the investments, CEO of SportQuake, Matt House, said: “The crypto winter of 2022/23 feels like a distant memory as crypto sports sponsorship expenditures rebound toward record levels,” 

“Brands like Crypto.com, Gate.io, and Kraken are making significant strides.

“Crypto.com has enhanced its already impressive portfolio with the addition of the Champions League, while Gate.io has surged from zero to US$53 million (AUD$82 million) in just a year.

“Kraken has also broadened its presence through sleeve sponsorships with Tottenham Hotspur, Atletico Madrid, and RB Leipzig on top of their Williams F1 partnership.

“In the future, market dynamics indicate that crypto exchanges are poised to emerge as major front-of-shirt sponsors, especially with the Premier League’s upcoming ban on betting companies acquiring this inventory starting in the 2026/27 season,” House said.

Following closely are Coinbase and OKX, marking their positions as significant players in the sponsorship arena, while Gate.io has made a noteworthy entry, spending US$53 million (AUD$82 million) to secure the fourth spot.

Soccer continues to reign as the favoured sport for crypto exchanges, recording 20 out of 34 new sponsorship deals this year.

Meanwhile, investments from crypto exchanges into Formula One continue on an upward trajectory, reaching an annual spend of US$174 million (AUD$270 million) with six exchanges now active, an increase from the four seen last year.

Overall, the total spends on sports sponsorship remains US$120 million shy of the peak of US$685 million (AUD$1.065 billion) recorded in the 2022/23 season.

The sports sector capitalised on the growing appetite for cryptocurrency sponsorships in 2021, driven by the need to recover from financial setbacks due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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