In this article, we will look at the role of football players in mass crypto adoption and how cryptocurrencies are spreading across the football industry.
Football Stars, Crypto, and NFT: How Football Players Lead Crypto Adoption
Football is one of the biggest sports in the world today, and apart from being a form of entertainment, its main actors, the football stars, attract a lot of interest to the sport. So It is no surprise that the round leather game has captured the interest of crypto brands.
In 2021, former Real Madrid striker David Barral made history by becoming the first football player to be transferred in exchange for Bitcoin. This historical event occurred when the Spanish striker switched from Racing Santander to DUX International de Madrid in the Spanish Segunda B.
However, there has always been an existing relationship between cryptocurrency and football, even before the crypto-historic transfer of David Barral to DUX International de Madrid.
For example, in 2018, seven top-flight English football clubs – Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton, Crystal Palace, and Cardiff City struck a partnership with the investment trading platform eToro. Many top English football clubs followed, adopting partnerships with some crypto-related brands soon after.
In this article, we’ll look at the role of football players in adopting crypto in the sport and the uses of cryptocurrencies in football. But first, let’s start with the stronghold crypto has on football.
The Stronghold of Crypto in Football
Italian tyre manufacturing giant Pirelli had for a long time been the sole shirt sponsor of Inter Milan, an Italian football club. But in 2021, the former league champions announced Chiliz-owned fan engagement platform Socios as their new shirt sponsor, ending their 26-year working relationship with Pirelli.
For the 2021-22 Serie A season, the Internazionale’s black and blue jerseys were engraved with “$INTER,” the club’s fan token issued by Socios.
In August 2021, Paris Saint Germain announced the signing of Lionel Messi from Barcelona, and it was reported that PSG would pay part of Lionel Messi’s mouth-watering annual salary with fan tokens.
Binance, the world’s leading crypto infrastructure, recently announced an exclusive multi-year partnership with Manchester United and Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Through its partnership with Ronaldo, Binance aims to launch a global campaign that will introduce football fans to Web3 with a compelling entry point into the world of NFTs.
Throughout the deal, Binance and Cristiano Ronaldo will build a series of NFT collections for exclusive sale on the Binance NFT platform.
This partnership will see Binance benefit from Ronaldo’s large fan base that transcends sports.
What Are the Uses of Cryptocurrencies in Football
Cryptocurrencies are becoming a mainstay in the football business, as clubs and governing bodies are starting to integrate crypto into their dealings. But what roles do cryptocurrencies play in the world of football? Let’s look at some of them.
#1. Sponsorship Deals From Crypto Brands
Many top-flight European football clubs, including Arsenal, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester City, and Paris Saint-Germain, have multi-million sponsorship contracts with fan engagement company, Socios. Their English Premier League counterparts also have sponsorship deals with one crypto brand or the other. Currently, seven EPL clubs have signed sponsorship deals with the social trading network eToro.
In the 2021-22 Premier League season, Watford received a shirt-sleeve sponsorship from Dogecoin, with the Shiba Inu dog insignia appearing on their sleeves. This was a few seasons before they had the Bitcoin logo printed on their sleeves, in agreement with their former sponsors, sportsbet.io. The latter has recently launched a ‘Crypto Fan Fund’ for Southampton supporters.
Another instance of crypto sponsorship in football is the Serie A sponsorship from a top cryptocurrency exchange company, Crypto.com; a brand projected to be one of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup sponsors coming up in November 2022.
Across Europe, the story is the same, as many cryptocurrency brands are headlining major football events and sponsoring several football clubs.
#2. Payments in Cryptocurrency
In 2018, the Italian Serie C football club Rimini FC 1912 became the first football club in history to be bought with cryptocurrency, and there are speculations that football players in the Premier League may start receiving their salaries in crypto.
Ex-Arsenal Defender Kieran Gibbs has already taken a step to convert part of his salary at David Beckham’s Inter Miami to Bitcoin, joining the growing list of footballers who have embraced cryptocurrency investment.
#3. Issuance of Fan Tokens
Fan tokens are utility tokens that grant fans access to membership bonuses such as merchandise or exclusive promotions. They also allow fans to participate in minor club decision-making like deciding the songs to be played in the stadium, jersey designs, etc.
Having a fan token can give you access to VIP rewards, like a meet-and-greet with your favorite football player, access to VIP seats on match days, and more: The higher your token, the higher your say and club benefits.
Notable Footballers That Have Invested in NFT
Ex-Chelsea captain, John Terry, opened a Twitter account in November 2021 and, shortly after, started using it to promote his NFT scheme, ‘Ape Kids Football Club.’
The NFT scheme was the rave of the moment at that time, with footballers like Ashley Cole, Reece James, Tammy Abraham, Daley Blind, Jack Wilshere, Bobby Zamora, Nigel de Jong, and Jan Vertonghen promoting the scheme. However, the Ape Kids Football Club’s fame was short-lived, as the NFT project tanked soon after gaining public recognition. Back in November 2021, Paul Pogba promoted an NFT project, “Cryptodragons,” to his social media followers, announcing that the digital asset sold for 35 ETH. At the time, 35 ETH was worth a whooping £132,000, making Pogba’s announcement such a big deal.
Liverpool and England full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was also involved in NFT trading. He once changed his Twitter profile picture to an NFT of Muhammad Ali. But, he brought it down after receiving backlash from fans.
Others like Rio Ferdinand, Gerard Pique, and Antoine Griezmann have invested in platforms such as Sorare that sell many NFTs to users.
Conclusion
One should always remember that dealing with crypto is a risky venture, regardless of primary motive, whether it is instant gains via arbitraging crypto or acquiring NFTs in gratitude to a favorite football team or player. Basically NFT collections promoted by football players have not recorded tangible success, and clubs and players alike have been criticized for promoting unregulated assets. As a result, many football supporters are still skeptical about the concept, and it will take time for a crypto to gain widespread acceptance among football lovers.
