beincrypto.com
There is no bigger audience in the United States than that for the annual Super Bowl, and this year, those that watch will be seeing crypto advertising. The FTX cryptocurrency derivatives exchange has purchased an advertisement for the February 2022 Super Bowl as it continues to promote crypto trading to mainstream audiences.
Company founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Freid (SBF) has been actively promoting his exchange through a number of major sporting partnerships this year. He stated that he wanted to push that message out to the mainstream according to Bloomberg.
Our message throughout this year has been that crypto is safe, accessible, and ready for the mainstream. There is no bigger, more mainstream event to share a message like that than the Super Bowl.
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced the number of attendees at the 2021 event, but estimates suggest that up to 100 million people watch it on TV.
Big crypto money, big sports
Advertising slots for America’s most eagerly awaited sporting event can cost upwards of $6 million dollars as companies vie for one of the largest sporting audiences in the country. That is just pocket change for SBF and FTX considering that the company was recently valued at $25 billion.
FTX has made several key partnerships this year including the sponsorship of Major League Baseball. It has also bought the rights to rename the NBA’s Miami Heat stadium to FTX Arena.
In late September, FTX signed a multi-year deal with NFL star Aaron Jones who would serve as a “brand ambassador” for the firm. NFL legend Tom Brady took an equity stake in the company earlier this year as part of a long-term partnership. He has also appeared on FTX TV commercials promoting cryptocurrencies.
Also in September, FTX made a deal with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team to display its branding on their race cars and drivers.
SBF explained his major foray into sports marketing stating “Sports fans are 2x more likely to know about crypto than nonsports fans, and avid sports fans are nearly 3x as likely.”
FTT token price reaction
The exchange’s native token, FTT, hasn’t reacted much to the news. It’s declined 2% on the day to trade at $64 at the time of press according to CoinGecko.
Although it has dropped 24% from its Sept. 9 all-time high of $84.18, FTT has been on fire recently with a 21% gain over the past fortnight.