Key Takeaways:
- Leading English FC Liverpool may get a cryptocurrency company as its main sponsor soon
- It aims to find a good replacement for its current sponsor Standard Chartered
- The club is also in talks with other companies from electronics, media, and tourism sectors
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – Legendary English football club Liverpool is reportedly in talks with several cryptocurrency companies to secure a new sponsorship deal. The club has an ongoing T-shirt sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered, which expires at the end of the 2023/24 season. According to the current deal, Standard Chartered pays the club £160 million (over $204 million) spread over four years. This works out to £40 million or over $51 million per year.
Liverpool hopes to secure a better deal with a new sponsor that will help strengthen its position in the English league. The British multinational banking and financial services company has been on the shirt of the club since 2010 after taking over from Beer giant Carlsberg. The club’s women’s team, which won the FA Women’s Cup this week, also carries its logo.
Anfield Watch, a website run by Liverpool fans, shared the news about the possible sponsorship deal with a cryptocurrency company. According to the website’s official Twitter handle, the list of companies the club is in talks with includes a crypto exchange firm and a blockchain platform.
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A cryptocurrency firm as the main T-shirt sponsor will be a first
The growing partnership between cryptocurrency platforms and English football clubs has become controversial. Last December, the English Premier League opened an investigation into the matter as worried fans expressed concerns over the lack of regulation in the industry.
Over half of the 20 football clubs in the league have some kind of a deal with a crypto partner. Several well-known platforms such as eToro, Crypto.com, Socios, and Sorare have made inroads into the football world by partnering with many clubs in Europe’s major leagues, including in England.
Premier League clubs such as Watford and Southampton have crypto companies as one of their shirt sponsors. While Watford carries Stake.com, Southampton boasts of its partnership with Sportsbet.io. In an interesting development, Watford also put the Dogecoin (DOGE) logo on its sleeve.
However, according to Athletic UK correspondent David Ornstein, a possible Liverpool deal will be a new first.
” Liverpool may become 1st PL club to sign cryptocurrency firm as main shirt sponsor. #Crypto companies among those in talks to take over from 2023 if Standard Chartered don’t extend,”
he wrote.
Liverpool recently launched its NFT collection titled The LFC Heroes Club on the Polygon Network. This resulted in people criticizing the club for failing to take environmental concerns into consideration.
The new sponsorship deal with a cryptocurrency company, should it materialize, may kickstart a new controversy. Meanwhile, other companies from the electronics, media, and tourism sectors are also eyeing a spot on the Liverpool Football Club’s T-Shirt.
