The Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) has added cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com to its sponsorship portfolio.
Under the terms of the one-year agreement, the branding of the Hong Kong-based firm will feature at the Canadiens’ Bell Centre arena, starting with a home fixture against fellow Canadian ice hockey franchise the Vancouver Canucks.
Although it is the first agreement between the Canadiens and a cryptocurrency exchange, multiple sports organisations have been utilising cryptocurrency for sponsorship and fan engagement purposes over the past year.
Crypto.com itself recently added Formula One team Aston Martin Cognizant to its list of sponsors, ahead of the team’s return to the motorsport racing circuit for the first time in decades.
Lawrence Stroll, Executive Chairman of Aston Martin, was reportedly impressed with ‘the vision of the Crypto.com management and the tremendous speed at which their platform is growing’.
Additional partnerships have seen football clubs equip themselves with ‘Fan Tokens’ to better engage with their supporters, with Serie A giants AC Milan striking an agreement with blockchain firm Socios.com.
As well as the Rossoneri, Socios maintains deals with FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid, AS Roma, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor.
Furthermore, cryptocurrency betting firms have become an increasingly popular sponsorship partner for many organisations, with Premier League outfits Arsenal and Southampton listing Sportsbet.io in their respective portfolios.
Meanwhile, leading MMA promotion the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has named crypto betting operator Stake as its first official sports betting partner in the Latin American and Asian markets, building on the firm’s pre-existing partnership with middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
