Manchester United, one of the world’s most popular soccer (or football) teams, is reportedly set to announce a multi-year training kit sponsorship by proof-of-stake blockchain platform Tezos.
First reported by The Athletic, the deal is apparently in excess of $27 million per year, allowing Tezos to place its logo on the team’s training uniform. Manchester United has reportedly finalized filming promotional material ahead of the official announcement.
The report also speculates that the partnership may involve collaboration in the technology space, such as a metaverse or other Web3 projects.
Tezos has made a heavy investment in sports sponsorships. In May 2021, RedBull racing announced Tezos as its official blockchain partner. Tezos built its first nonfungible token (NFT) fan experience, which was launched in November later that year.
A similar announcement by McLaren Racing a month later saw Tezos as its official technical partner in a multi-year deal across its Formula 1, Indycar and esports teams, and the Tezos network was used in the launch of McLaren’s NFT collection in October 2021.
Manchester United is in the top tier of pro-English football dubbed the English Premier League (EPL). It joins several other EPL clubs that have either penned sponsorship deals or fan token partnerships.
In August 2021, Dogecoin (DOGE) partnered with Watford FC as its shirt sleeve sponsor for the 2021–2022 season, with players sporting the coins’ famed meme logo on their arms. Manchester City, Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC have all launched fan tokens on various platforms such as Socios and Bitci.
Baby Doge partners with German football club
Meanwhile, Doge- and Shiba Inu-inspired meme coin Baby Doge Coin (BabyDoge) has announced it has partnered with professional football club TSG Hoffenheim, a team in the Bundesliga — Germany’s top football league.
In an announcement, Hoffenheim confirmed that Baby Doge will become an official partner of the club, working together on the development of club-specific NFTs. The deal also includes what the club calls “key promotional materials,” which will see Baby Doge advertised on LED boards around the pitch at the team’s home games, as well as co-branded content.
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“TSG Hoffenheim are happy to be working together with such an innovative and leading brand like Baby Doge. We are excited and looking forward to a successful partnership, where we’ll bring an NFT collection from the club and other exciting projects to life,” said Denni Strich, CEO of Hoffenheim.
Mike Watson, a project manager at Baby Doge, stated that the deal would expand its presence in the global market and in the European Union and would continue to form strategic partnerships to extend its reach as a community-centered project by establishing itself as a player in the sports world.
A similar canine-based meme coin, Floki Inu (FLOKI), which was created after Elon Musk tweeting he was naming his Shiba Inu “Floki,” also scored a partnership deal with Italian professional football club S.S.C. Napoli in November 2021.
The deal saw Floki Inu’s logo — a cartoon Shiba Inu wearing a viking helmet — displayed on the backside of Napoli players’ jerseys and, similar to Baby Doge’s deal, saw Floki Inu’s logo displayed on LED signs at the Napoli home stadium.
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