Crypto.com Backs Out of UEFA Deal in Latest Crypto Reversal

Crypto companies are reversing course on sports sponsorships — and European soccer’s governing body is just the latest victim.

Crypto.com backed out of a five-year sponsorship deal worth $100.6 million annually for the UEFA Champions League this summer, according to SportBusiness.

A drop of over $2 trillion in value in the crypto markets from November to June, plus another major hit last week, has caused a course correction among crypto exchanges.

• Rival crypto exchange FTX reportedly pulled out of a jersey patch deal with the Los Angeles Angels. Another crypto company backed off a deal with the Washington Wizards.
• The bankruptcy of crypto exchange Voyager left a deal with the NWSL — one of the largest in the league’s history — in limbo. Voyager was also a partner of the Dallas Mavericks.

Crypto’s Big Sports Play

The canceled transactions represent a reversal on what had been the biggest emerging trend in sports deals: Crypto companies were spending billions of dollars on sports sponsorships. 

The category rocketed to the NBA’s second-largest sponsorship category in the 2021-22 season, after being 43rd the previous year.

Crypto.com and FTX each made a major splash with an arena naming rights deal, with the former landing the home of the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Kings, and Sparks in a 20-year, $700 million deal, and FTX snaring the Miami Heat’s arena for 19 years for $135 million.