UEFA, the governing body of European football, has just taken a significant step towards crypto. The organization is seeking to attract sponsors from the Exchanges industry for the 2024-2027 period of the prestigious Champions League. A strong signal for a promising marriage between crypto and sport.
UEFA turns to crypto
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is looking for new sponsors from the crypto industry for the 2024-2027 cycle of the Champions League. The call for tenders, launched on March 13, gives potential candidates until March 20 to submit their proposals by email.
This approach is part of UEFA’s overall commercial strategy, initiated in May 2022 in collaboration with the Team Marketing agency. The objective: to renew and expand the pool of sponsors, which already includes big names such as PlayStation, Mastercard and Turkish Airlines.
Indeed, in February 2023, UEFA had already launched a tender targeting the financial sector, including cryptocurrencies, for sponsorship packages for its three major competitions (Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League). However, no crypto player was then selected.
In addition, in 2022, the Crypto.com platform would have given up at the last moment a sponsorship agreement of 500 million euros over five years with UEFA. An opportunity that seems to present itself today.
This strategic move could pave the way for broader adoption of digital assets in professional sports. Football, the most popular sport in the world, would thus send a strong signal in favor of the democratization of cryptocurrencies.
Cryptos and sport, a natural and promising alliance
The rapprochement between the world of sport and that of crypto is not a new phenomenon, but it has significantly accelerated in recent years. The sports industry, which is worth nearly $400 billion, represents a formidable lever of growth and notoriety for players in the cryptosphere.
Partnerships are multiplying at high speed, like Crypto.com which spent $700 million to rename the famous Staples Center in Los Angeles, Binance which became sponsor of the Argentina team and Cristiano Ronaldo, or again from Bitget which sponsors Lionel Messi.
Beyond juicy sponsorship contracts, blockchain has a lot to bring to sport in terms of fan experience, ticketing, TV rights and even digital collections.
Among the most promising use cases, we can cite:
- NFTs allow you to create unique collectibles linked to memorable sporting moments. The NBA generated more than $500 million in just a few months with its “Top Shots.”
- “Fan tokens” giving supporters a way to interact with their favorite clubs and players while accessing exclusive benefits. PSG, Manchester City and Juventus have understood this well by launching their own tokens.
- The tokenization of athletes which could revolutionize their financing, by allowing fans to invest in their future performances via smart contracts.
The list of use cases is long and continues to grow. The potential seems immense, especially since the new generations of ultra-connected fans are very receptive to these innovations.
In short, the crypto industry increasingly appears as a natural ally of sports business. If UEFA takes the plunge, there is no doubt that other major institutions will follow suit.
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