FTX continues it’s run of sports partnerships. Last week, the exchange broke ground as Major League Baseball’s first ‘Official Crypto Partner‘. Earlier this month, FTX teamed up with leading esports organization TSM in a historic naming rights deal. Today, the firm continued their partnerships streak by way of a deal with one of the most recognizable celebrity couples out – Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen.
Brady Pumped The Brakes
Brady alluded to the partnership to start the week with a tweet stating “Alright the laser eyes didn’t work. Anyone have any ideas?” The tweet referenced a bitcoin chart showing the moment Brady changed his Twitter profile picture to include him having ‘laser eyes’ – a common characteristic of crypto-enthusiasts on the site. Since Brady’s profile pic swap in May, signaling his crypto advocacy, bitcoin’s price has dropped nearly 40% after sitting at practically record highs.
It remains to seen if Brady’s latest move can help turn the tide as bitcoin has held steady ground recently. In addition to his partnership with FTX, Brady also announced his intent to launch NFT platform ‘Autograph’ this year.
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The Deal Details
Brady and Bündchen will become FTX brand ambassadors in the new deal, in return for an undisclosed amount of cryptocurrency and for an equity stake in FTX. Additionally, Bündchen will serve as the firm’s environmental and social initiatives advisor. The move comes after the exchange committed to being carbon neutral through carbon offsets.
Brady will be focused on leveraging a variety of initiatives to introduce the FTX brand to a new audience; Bündchen’s position will hone in on charitable aspects around the exchange.
FTX is now likely spending in excess of $400M in sport sponsorships with deals all secured within the past year. The MLB deal in particular was unique in that it supplied umpire patch branding, the first partnership with the league to do so.
Beyond the aforementioned deals with TSM and the MLB, the firm also secured naming rights with the NBA’s Miami Heat arena. Additionally, exchange partner Blockfolio inked a deal with future NFL quarterback Trevor Lawrence earlier this year. The exchange is clearly looking to leverage sport sponsorships as a way to build it’s US operations under FTX.US.
According to Forbes, Brady brought in north of $75M USD between salary and endorsements last year. The couple has a net worth in excess of $500M USD.
Despite bitcoin's pullback, Brady looks to his latest partnership to help right the ship after his Twitter "laser eyes" preluded a dip. | Source: BTC-USD on TradingView.com
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Featured image from Pixabay, Charts from TradingView.com