The NFL announced today that it will allow teams to seek limited three-year sponsorships from blockchain companies, but the league kept in place a ban on promotions featuring a coin or token.
"Clubs will continue to be prohibited from directly promoting cryptocurrency,” the league said in a memo obtained by CNBC.
The NFL said it decided to allow promotional relationships with blockchain companies like Crypto.com, Coinbase, and FTX due to the growing popularity of cryptocurrency, NFTs, and the NFL's own evaluation of blockchain technology.
"We're extremely bullish on blockchain technology," Joe Ruggiero, head of consumer products for the NFL, told CNBC. “We think that it has a lot of potential to really shape innovation, shape fan engagement over the course of the coming decade."
Dapper Labs: NFTs Getting 'Very Little Resistance' From Pro Sports Leagues Now
It's been just one year since Dapper Labs launched NBA Top Shot, the online collectibles marketplace that arguably kicked off the first mainstream NFT boom. At that time, the term NFT (non-fungible token) was relatively unknown outside of crypto circles. CryptoKitties, the collectible cats so popular in 2017 that they clogged up the Ethereum blockchain, were also NFTs (and also a Dapper creation), but that acronym wasn't being widely used yet. In one year, everything has changed. Dapper recently...
While the news of the NFL's change of heart may surprise some, the league has been tentatively looking into blockchain-related sponsorships for some time. Last year, the league lobbied the SEC on "issues related to blockchain technology."
"In this evolving regulatory environment," part of today's memo read, "it remains essential that we proceed carefully when evaluating potential commercial opportunities involving blockchain technologies, and conduct appropriate diligence on all potential partners and their business models."
But while the NFL is just beginning to explore blockchain sponsorships, other leagues, and athletes in those leagues, have already jumped in. Last year, NBA star Kevin Durant, an early investor in Coinbase, signed a deal with the crypto exchange to appear as the face of the brand. Coinbase is the "exclusive crypto partner" of the NBA and WNBA. FTX is the official crypto exchange of Major League Baseball, and has its logo patch on every MLB umpire's uniform.
Here Are All the Bitcoin and Crypto Companies Airing a Super Bowl Ad
Just about every year, the Super Bowl brings together over 100 million viewers—most of whom don't know their Rams from their Bengals. But they can all agree that, "Hey, that one commercial was funny" and "Honey, isn't that the guy from SNL?" In a bid to gain a foothold in the wider American culture, a bevy of cryptocurrency companies have shelled out the reported $6.5 million to run a 30-second ad during Super Bowl LVI on February 13. Here's a quick viewing guide: FTX Bahamas-based crypto spot a...
Other athletes have partnered with, invested in, or become ambassadors for crypto companies, including NFL quarterback Tom Brady (FTX), tennis star Naomi Osaka (FTX), MLB pitcher Shohei Ohtani (FTX), and NBA champions LeBron James (Crypto.com), Steph Curry (FTX) and Metta World Peace (Blanksoles on Solana).
