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ollowing the recent announcements of new global partnerships between the UFC and both Crypto.com and Socios.com, UFC vice president of global partnerships, Nick Smith, spoke to Ministry of Sport.

Discussing the impact the deals will have in Australia, Smith said the two partnerships, which are both in new categories for the UFC, will help the competition engage fans better than ever.

“We’re thrilled to have created two innovative, global, new-category partnerships with Crypto.com and Socios.com,” Smith told Ministry of Sport.

“The Crypto category is rapidly moving into the mainstream as it gains recognition and regulation around the world, not too dissimilar to the evolution and journey of the UFC.

“It makes sense for us to join forces and is a historic moment for both businesses.

“The beauty of the Fan Token is that we can basically integrate anything into the rewards platform.

“The number one goal of Socios is to help sports teams and leagues better engage and access their fans.

“There are so many obvious integrations for our other sponsors, in Australia and around the world, once this partnership gets going,” he said.

Expanding on the increased opportunities for fan engagement due to the partnerships, Smith said: “Both partnerships will allow fans to engage with the UFC from Australia in ways they never have before.”

“Australia is increasingly becoming a very important market for both organisations due to the high socio-economic and tech-savvy fan base in Australia is something both brands are wanting to target.

“They will activate almost all regions around the world, predominantly through the use of social and digital channels, as well as all global events that are obviously broadcast into Australia.

“Crypto.com developed a neat Instagram AR filter ahead of the partnership launch at UFC 264, allowing fans all over the world to try on the new UFC Fighter Kit of which they are our first Global Partner.

“They worked with a number of high profile UFC stars including UFC Middleweight Champion, Israel Adesanya, to encourage engagement with fans able to win $100 UFC Store gift cards,” he said.

When asked about the opportunities for brands in partnering with the UFC, Smith said the talent the UFC has from Australia and New Zealand presents a unique opportunity.

“From a local perspective we have a strong line up of talent set to represent our region on the world stage such as UFC featherweight champion, Alex Volkanovski, plus the rematch between Israel Adesanya and former champion and No.1 middleweight contender, Rob Whittaker, is expected to take place before the end of 2021 and will be one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history for Australia and New Zealand,” Smith said.

“We have unique event and broadcast opportunities available for local partners, as Neds experienced with us for UFC 264 and will continue to be present across a number of our major PPV and Fight Night events through the remainder of the year.

“While we are unsure of our return date to Australia for a live event, it’s great for us to be able to provide brands across ANZ the opportunity to leverage our biggest events and we look forward to sharing more news on this front in the near future,” he told Ministry of Sport.