Key Takeaways:
LAGOS (CoinChapter.Com) – In the wake of trending crypto sports marketing which has become popular in the crypto industry, Binance exchange announced a partnership with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as the official sponsor of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The sponsorship makes Binance become the first crypto and blockchain sponsor of AFCON, the biggest African soccer tournament in the world.
According to the exchange, the partnership is part of an ongoing campaign to provide financial services to Africans where access to banks and other financial institutions is very limited. More importantly, Binance aims to use the sporting event to main crypto mainstream across the continent.
Yi-He, Binance CMO, expressed optimism about the partnership—and the role of Africa in leading blockchain development in the future.
“With a population of 1.2 billion Africans and the prevalence of blockchain technology and its use cases, we believe the African continent could lead the future of the blockchain industry,” Yi-He said.
Emmanuel Babalola, Binance director for Africa, added that “football is the most popular sport in Africa” and that “this corroborates our mission to take crypto mainstream across the continent.”
Binance would not be the first exchange to adopt sports advertising as a means of expanding its market.
Crypto exchanges FTX and Coinbase have been exploring the path for months now. FTX, led by CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, has gone all-in on sports marketing. In April 2021, the exchange finalized a deal with the Miami Heat that saw the NBA team’s home stadium renamed FTX Arena.
FTX also became the official crypto exchange brand of the MLB, where even umpires now sport the FTX logo on their uniforms.
Similarly, Coinbase became the exclusive cryptocurrency platform partner of the NBA in October. The publicly-traded crypto exchange also announced a sponsorship deal with NBA star and Brooklyn Net Kevin Durant.
Outside FTX and Coinbase, Bitfinex, Crypto.com, Socios are other crypto firms that have sealed branding deals with various sporting outfits across football, Formula 1, Mixed Martial Art, among others.
The AFCON tournament—which began on January 9, 2022, was postponed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The bi-annual tournament would see 24 nations compete for a spot in the final, due to take place on February 6, 2022, in Cameroon.
Broadcasted in more than 160 nations to an audience of over 300 million, the competition will see 24 countries fight for a spot in the final and eventually get crowned as African champions for the next two years.
The tournament features some of soccer’s biggest names, including Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mane.
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