Bitcoin soared past its previous all-time high of $69,800 early this March, a move that has reignited interest in crypto all over the world. As crypto ushers in a new bullish season, Arsenal Sports Club is weighing new crypto partnerships.
Arsenal has been working with crypto investment groups for the past seven years. Some of these relationships collapsed after the industry entered a bear market at the end of 2021. But others are still active.
In this article, we’ll outline some of Arsenal’s biggest crypto partnerships. We’ll explain how Arsenal benefits from these relationships. Also, we’ll highlight reasons why crypto is one of the biggest sponsors of sports clubs. Let’s get started.
2018—Deal with Cashbet
Arsenal became the first major football club to sign a partnership with a crypto-focused gambling operator in 2018. The deal saw Cashbet earn the right to promote its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) to the club’s fans.
Arsenal never revealed the amount of money received from this brand endorsement deal. But it was estimated to be over €1 million.
An ICO is a type of crowdfunding event involving the sale of a company’s official coin. The company raises funds by selling its cryptocurrency token through a series of funding phases. Unfortunately, Cashbet’s deal with Arsenal didn’t lead to long-term success. The company lost most of its value during the last bear market.
ICOs were pretty common between 2013 and 2020. In fact, some of the biggest cryptocurrencies in the world—Ethereum, Solana, and Ripple—all had ICOs.
Cashbet launched in 2012 as an online casino game provider. It offers betting bonuses such as those available on this page. If you love crypto and sports betting, check out the page for the best bonus deals.
2021—Arsenal Fan Token
2021 was the year of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), crypto all-time highs, and sports fan tokens. All the major football clubs in Europe and North America created fan tokens that year, from Arsenal and Barcelona to the Chicago Bears and the Cleveland Browns.
Socios.com, a blockchain app that helps sports organizations increase fan engagement through crypto, created Arsenal’s official token. The token has real utilities designed to make it valuable to own.
For example, fans can vote on the songs to be played during a match using the AFC token. They can also pick players to run the club’s socials for a week or vote on charities the club can support.
With that in mind, the Arsenal fan token doesn’t give fans the right to vote on important decisions. Fans can’t choose jersey colors, or players to be sold or hired. They can’t vote on whether to keep the manager or change the stadium name. The token is limited to minor decisions within the club.
2023—NFT Project
Arsenal’s NFT project is a partnership with blockchain firm Staynex. The company creates digital assets that give owners certain privileges within the Arsenal club. It has divided its NFTs into two tiers—Gooner and Legendary level.
Gooner-level NFTs will give fans general access to sports matches while legendary tier assets will offer five-star accommodation. NFT owners will choose matches to attend among other benefits.
Non-fungible tokens are a controversial subject in the crypto community mainly because most of them have no inherent value. As already mentioned, NFTs were a big trend in 2021. However, most of them lost their value in 2022.
Arsenal’s NFT project is different, though. Not only is it built on the secure Binance Network, but it also provides real use cases to asset owners. NFTs with true utilities tend to last for a long time. They also grow their value in the long term.
Why is Arsenal Investing in Crypto Projects?
When Arsenal first announced its crypto deal with Cashbet, not everyone was happy. The Arsenal Trust Organization criticized the move harshly and advised its fans not to buy the coin.
Despite the criticism, Arsenal continued to seek new crypto partnerships such as the AFT fan token and the recent NFT project. How does the club benefit from these deals?
A Source of Revenue
Nearly all of Arsenal’s crypto projects have helped raise the club’s revenues. For example, Cashbet paid Arsenal to be its official blockchain partner. Arsenal might have paid Socios.com for the company to create its token.
However, Arsenal made a lot of money from the sale of these tokens. It generated even more money from the sale of its Non-Fungible Tokens. Considering the crypto Bull Run has barely begun, Arsenal hopes to generate a considerable portion of its revenue through crypto partnerships this year.
With that in mind, Adidas, Fly Emirates, and Konami are the club’s biggest brand partners. Fly Emirates pays the club $63.9 million every season to be the official jersey sponsor. Adidas pays $78.3 million every season to create jerseys, cleats, and other apparel for the club.
A Way to Connect with Young Fans Globally
Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world. But for the club to maintain its fan base, it needs to keep performing at the top level. What’s more, it must find ways to engage with the younger generation of football fans.
Performance-wise, Arsenal is doing the best it can. It is one of the three clubs fighting to win the English Premier League. It’s also a contender for European glory, having made it to the quarterfinal stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Another way the club builds engagement with its fans is through social media. Arsenal has tens of millions of fans across its Instagram, x, Facebook, and TikTok accounts. Now, it is hoping to enhance its interactions with fans through crypto.
In Conclusion
Crypto provides an excellent way for Arsenal to generate revenues and reach out to a new community of young football fans. While not everyone is happy about these partnerships, they’ve been highly successful at times.
Arsenal will most likely seek new crypto partnerships this year now that the industry is approaching a new bullish season. With crypto gaining increased regulation and popularity globally, we expect the partnerships to be successful.