coincodex.com
Key highlights:
- OKX has signed a sponsorship deal with Premier League football club Manchester City
- Through the deal, the OKX logo will be prominently featured on the club's training kits
- The deal is another example of cryptocurrency businesses using sports sponsorships to reach mainstream audiences
OKX signs deal to sponsor Manchester City's training kit
The OKX cryptocurrency exchange has reached a deal with reigning Premier League champions Manchester City to have the OKX logo displayed on the team’s training kit. The deal will be in effect until mid-2023. The latest sponsorship comes after a deal OKX and Manchester City signed in March, which made OKX the club’s “official cryptocurrency exchange partner”.
OKX’s chief marketing officer Haider Rafique said the exchange wants to lean into the “training” theme with the sponsorship, and revealed that the exchange will be launching a trading course to accompany their demo trading functionality. According to Rafique, OKX also plans to unveil a new license and a new product integration soon.
The exchange has also commissioned four pieces of street art in Manchester which feature QR codes that fans can scan for a chance to win season tickets in the OKX Hospitality Box.
OKX is among the 10 biggest exchanges in the cryptocurrency industry in terms of trading volume. In the last 24 hours, the platform handled just over $1 billion worth of trading volume on its spot markets, and over $9 billion worth of trading volume on its derivatives markets.
In February, a similar deal was reached between Tezos and Manchester City rival Manchester United. In addition to sponsoring the team’s training kit, the Tezos-Manchester United deal also entails fan experiences facilitated by the Tezos blockchain platform.
Sports-related sponsorships are one of the main ways that cryptocurrency and blockchain industry players are using to reach mainstream audiences.
While the pace of new deals has slowed down considerably because of the bearish turn in crypto asset markets, many companies secured multi-year deals with major brands and sports clubs during the bull market. We’ve seen the likes of FTX and Crypto.com spend 9 figures to name sports arenas in the United States, and crypto-related sponsorships are also prominently featured throughout major sports leagues and promotions like the NBA, Formula 1, UFC and others.