UEFA opens the door to crypto, a revolution for European football!

The UEFA, the governing body of European football, has taken a significant step towards cryptocurrency. The organization is looking to attract sponsors from the Exchange industry for the 2024-2027 period of the prestigious Champions League. This serves as a strong signal for a promising union between crypto and sports.

UEFA turns towards crypto

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is seeking new sponsors from the crypto industry for the 2024-2027 Champions League cycle. The tender, launched on March 13, gives potential candidates until March 20 to submit their proposals via email.

This move is part of UEFA’s overall commercial strategy, initiated in May 2022 in collaboration with Team Marketing agency, with the aim to renew and expand its pool of sponsors, which already includes big names such as PlayStation, Mastercard, or Turkish Airlines.

Indeed, in February 2023, UEFA had already launched a tender targeting the financial sector, including cryptocurrencies, for the sponsorship packages of its three major competitions (Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League). However, no crypto player had been selected at that time.

Moreover, in 2022, the Crypto.com platform reportedly pulled out at the last minute from a sponsorship deal worth 500 million euros over five years with UEFA. An opportunity that seems to be presenting itself again today.

This strategic decision could pave the way for broader adoption of digital assets in professional sports. Football, the world’s most popular sport, would thus send a strong signal in favor of the democratization of cryptocurrencies.

Cryptos and sports, a natural and promising alliance

The convergence between the world of sports and crypto is not a new phenomenon, but it has accelerated significantly in recent years. The sports industry, worth nearly 400 billion dollars, represents a tremendous growth and recognition lever for actors in the cryptosphere.

Partnerships are multiplied at great speed, as seen with Crypto.com, which spent 700 million dollars to rename the famous Staples Center in Los Angeles, Binance becoming a sponsor of the Argentine team and Cristiano Ronaldo, or Bitget sponsoring Lionel Messi.

Beyond lucrative sponsorship contracts, blockchain has a lot to offer sports in terms of fan experience, ticketing, TV rights, or digital collections.

Among the most promising use cases, we can mention:

• NFTs that create unique collectible items linked to memorable sporting moments. The NBA generated over 500 million dollars in a few months with its “Top Shots”.
• “Fan tokens” that give supporters a way to interact with their favorite clubs and players while accessing exclusive benefits. PSG, Manchester City, or Juventus understood this very well by launching their own tokens.
• The tokenization of athletes which could revolutionize their funding, allowing fans to invest in their future performances through smart contracts.

The list of use cases is long and continues to expand. The potential seems immense, especially since the new generations of ultra-connected fans are very receptive to these innovations.

In summary, the crypto industry increasingly appears as a natural ally of the sport business. If UEFA takes the leap, there is no doubt that other major institutions will follow suit.