The Ultimate Fighting Championship has come to terms with Crypto.com. on a branding rights deal that will see the promotion earn US $175 million over ten years.
UFC sells branding rights to Crypto.com for $175 mil
CNBC is reporting that the sponsorship agreement with Crypto.com–a cryptocurrency platform that allows its 10 million users to buy and sell digital currency–will see the firm place its logo on all promotional apparel used by fighters and trainers during fight week festivities in the years to come. Crypto.com will also, get a logo advertisement in the Octagon for all UFC and Dana White’s Contender Series cards, and owns the rights to the organizations newly created Cryptocurrency Platform Partner sponsorship category.
“This is a partnership between two companies that are the best at what they do,” UFC president Dana White said via a press release. “No company has done more to grow the popularity of combat sports than UFC, and now we’re one of the biggest sports brands on the planet. We can help Crypto.com reach more people around the world through the strength of our brand.”
ESPN is also reporting that fighters will not see a “direct cut” of the revenue from the multi-million dollar agreement. Instead, they will be “able to broker individual deals with the cryptocurrency company and be used as paid brand ambassadors.” Since UFC athletes are not currently unionized, they are unable to collectively bargain to get a share of the revenue and are instead left out of negotiations altogether.
UFC to help in ‘world’s transition to cryptocurrency’?
Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek said in a statement that the pact with the world leader in mixed martial arts was a historic moment, and that the sport would help to accelerate the world’s transition to cryptocurrency.
Crypto sponsorships are a growing trend in professional sports. Last week, Crypto.com signed a $100 million dollar sponsorship deal with Formula 1, and the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers and Miami Heat have also cut sponsorship deals with crypt firms recently.
This new agreement between the UFC and Crypto.com will kick off with UFC 264. The event is headlined with a trilogy fight between lightweight superstars Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. The card starts at 6:15 pm ET on UFC Fight Pass. The main card pay-per-view begins at 10 pm ET exclusively on ESPN+.
