Coinbase has struck a deal with the Golden State Warriors NBA team, the latest sign that digital asset companies are taking a fresh look at the value of U.S.-based sports marketing deals—and that teams and leagues are keen on such deals after many were burned in the wake of FTX's collapse.
As part of the deal, the crypto exchange's branding will be featured prominently across the Warriors’ Chase Center and the team's limited-edition merchandise, Coinbase said in a statement this week. The trading platform will also run on-chain giveaways and game-day activations for Warriors fans.
The deal deepens Coinbase’s existing multi-year partnership with the NBA, as U.S.-based sports marketing deals experience a broader resurgence in the crypto industry.
"Our exclusive partnership with the Golden State Warriors gives fans simple and fun ways to try it out,” Coinbase Chief Marketing Officer Kate Rouch said in a statement. “We’re excited to bring Dub Nation on-chain.”
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Coinbase did not disclose the official terms of the deal, including its cost and duration. Neither Coinbase nor the Warriors immediately responded to Decrypt's request for comment.
This latest agreement comes amid a resurgence in crypto companies’ partnerships with American sports franchises. In the year to date, crypto companies have forged three times as many sports-related deals as they did in 2023, CoinGecko data shows.
Here Are the Sports Marketing Deals Crumbling Along With FTX
Once flush with cash, FTX racked up prominent sports marketing deals in 2021 and early 2022, committing at least $375 million in disclosed funds to teams and leagues along the way. Now those sponsorships are all falling apart, one by one, since FTX filed for bankruptcy in November amid a liquidity crunch. All of FTX’s major sports and esports partners have now either suspended their respective deals amid the exchange's very public collapse, or have filed legal challenges to formally undo their o...
Many sports marketing deals fell apart in 2022, shortly after digital assets exchange FTX collapsed, plunging the crypto market into a deep rout. The Warriors were one of the teams that had signed with FTX, in a $10 million deal announced in December 2021. Other teams and leagues were similarly burned in the fallout of the exchange's abrupt closure and bankruptcy.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
