Is it worth it for exchanges to spend heavily on sponsoring sports events?
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Is it worth it for exchanges to spend heavily on sponsoring sports events?
In the current cycle, crypto's breakout and growth are largely driven by exchanges, with various platforms coincidentally starting to integrate crypto with sports.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsHow does cryptocurrency go mainstream?
From the legendary story of Bitcoin and pizza, to the launch of Ethereum, to Elon Musk endorsing Dogecoin—each cycle has its own unique narrative for breaking into the mainstream.
In the current cycle, crypto's expansion and growth are largely driven by exchanges, with each one increasingly linking crypto to sports.
"Exchange XX sponsors a sports team…"
This kind of news flash has now become a monthly staple in the crypto exchange news cycle—appearing like clockwork every single month.
From basketball arenas in Miami to Premier League football pitches, from the NBA to Formula 1—crypto flags wave across major sporting events, as exchanges engage in an all-out arms race of sports sponsorships.
But how did it all begin?
Departing from Miami
Rewind to December 2020. During an FTX-wide conference call, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried posed a new marketing and growth challenge: "Any big ideas?" In the ensuing brainstorming session, a bold idea emerged—"What if we put our name on a sports arena?"
Coincidentally, Avi Dabir, VP of Business Development at FTX.US, had previously worked in digital media for the NBA nearly a decade earlier—he personally took charge of making it happen.
Four months later, FTX signed a 19-year, $135 million naming rights deal, officially renaming the home of the Miami Heat to the "FTX Arena."
From then on, the three letters F-T-X became tightly bound with sports, leading the wave.
FTX became the official partnership platform of Major League Baseball (MLB), with the FTX logo appearing on every MLB umpire’s uniform.
FTX was named the official crypto partner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team; the official crypto and NFT partner of both the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals; and formed partnerships with the Golden State Warriors and the NCAA’s University of Kentucky Wildcats.
Additionally, FTX established direct collaborations with high-profile athletes such as Tom Brady, Steph Curry, and David Ortiz, a Boston Red Sox legend enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
To many, this may seem like a display of "wealth and extravagance," but in the fiercely competitive exchange landscape, this might actually be the fastest way to stand out and capture public attention.
According to Brett Harrison, CEO of FTX US, "It's extremely difficult to break through using traditional methods. If we only relied on slow, conventional marketing—digital ads, Facebook ads, Google Ads—to gradually acquire new users, we would never overcome the public's bias against the crypto industry."
Both exchanges and crypto professionals have long faced a challenge: the industry's negative reputation. Under such stereotypes, building a brand or achieving growth hits a ceiling—both in terms of traffic and image.
When self-driven breakthroughs prove impossible, leveraging external momentum becomes the optimal strategy.
Previously, crypto news often appeared alongside stories about crime, money laundering, hacking…
Now, with old-money players entering the market, crypto appears alongside figures like Elon Musk and his Tesla, El Salvador…
But something was still missing—a more mainstream, friendly, and positive narrative. That something is sports.
"When I saw my favorite team wearing jerseys with a crypto exchange logo on Hupu [a Chinese sports forum], it felt like a boundary had been broken—and suddenly crypto felt much closer," shared one user, illustrating two key outcomes of sports sponsorship:
1. Massive traffic and rapid brand exposure
2. Associating crypto brands with emotionally resonant teams, increasing goodwill
Thus, exchanges actively sponsoring sports isn't just helping crypto go mainstream—it's also aiding in rebranding and legitimization.
Brand and Growth
Sponsoring prominent sports events or teams can indeed quickly generate traffic and attention. However, over-relying on financial power may result in diminishing marginal returns.
So, is spending so much on branding really worth it?
Perhaps no one is more concerned about this question than other exchanges.
It’s reported that one exchange closely monitored FTX’s trading volume after its sports sponsorships began, noticing a clear correlation between brand exposure events and increases in trading volume and new users—prompting them to consider sponsoring sports events themselves.
Women, never hesitate to invest in your appearance; companies, never hesitate to invest in brand promotion.
Build the brand first, then drive growth—effortless results. Push growth without a brand—twice the effort, half the results.
Brand is a mnemonic device.
We condense all complex product features into a catchy slogan, shape a company’s essence into a striking visual logo, and compress lengthy product manuals into a 15-second TV commercial—all designed to make you instantly remember the brand.
When you think of FTX, what comes to mind? SBF, derivatives, the Miami Heat, the Mercedes team, TSM… constantly expanding its roster of "cool tags."
Compliance and Compliance
Inspired by FTX, exchanges deploying financial muscle to build their brands has seemingly become an industry consensus.
But there’s one prerequisite—compliance. Important things deserve repetition—even in subheadings.
The more crypto goes mainstream, the greater the regulatory risks it faces. The options are either to retreat completely underground or to confront regulation head-on and embrace compliance—the path most exchanges have chosen.
For example, FTX founder SBF previously said he spends five hours a day studying crypto regulations, with one goal in mind—ensuring the platform complies with regulatory requirements.
Recently, FTX announced the launch of "FTX Europe" and obtained regulatory approval from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). Through licensed investment firms in the European Economic Area, FTX will offer crypto trading services to European users—marking a new phase in FTX’s global expansion into Europe and the Middle East.
Having raised nearly $2 billion in funding over six months, FTX has already entered its next phase—aggressively expanding on a foundation of compliance. Going forward, acquisition-related announcements are expected to become frequent.
This is now the norm in the second half of the exchange competition: competing on brand, racing on compliance. After all, crypto is no longer a niche alternative asset. As regulators worldwide increasingly focus on this space, opportunities for unregulated, chaotic growth are shrinking rapidly.
Brand and compliance will be the dominant themes in the long-term battle among exchanges!
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