It seems that Crypto.com has abandoned one of its most valuable sponsorship deals.
Crypto.com, a Singapore-based crypto exchange established in 2016, has reportedly backed out of a hefty sponsorship deal with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League.
According to the SportBusiness report shared on August 31st, Crypto.com decided to pull out of a five-year sponsorship deal due to regulatory concerns with licenses in the United Kingdom, Italy, and France.
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It is worth noting that Crypto.com received regulatory approval from the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on August 17th. On the other hand, Italy's Organismo Agenti de Mediatori gave its approval on July 19th.
The deal was reportedly worth $495 million, during which Crypto.com would have paid around $100 million per season to UEFA.
The talks about Crypto.com becoming one of the main sponsors of the Champions League came after UEFA dropped Russian energy company Gazprom. The Union of European Football Associations decided to cut ties with the company after Russia started military actions against Ukraine.
UEFA still has active sponsorship deals with Lays, PlayStation, MasterCard, and FedEx.
On the other hand, Crypto.com has been actively expanding its positions by sponsoring various sport-related events and initiatives. Recently, Crypto.com paid $700 million for 20-year naming rights for the event venue, now known as Staple Center in Los Angeles. The venue now will be called Crypto.com Arena. Moreover, the company is an official sponsor of the NBA team Philadelphia 76ers.
In 2022, the crypto exchange signed a sponsoring deal with the Australian Football League worth $25 million and became a sponsor of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Moreover, Singapore-based crypto exchange signed a nine-year deal with Formula 1 to call one of the races the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix. Moreover, the company is a sponsor of Formula One team Aston Martin.
In other news, in May of 2021, a Crypto.com employee transferred $10.5 million to its Australian user while attempting to refund the person $100.
