FTX Strikes Sponsorship Deal With MLB, Umpires to Wear Crypto Exchange's Logo
Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX is doubling down on sports sponsorships.
The data-minded traders at FTX crunched the numbers and found sports naming rights to yield the best return on investment for their marketing spending, a source with knowledge of the matter told CoinDesk. Earlier this month, FTX reached a $210 million naming-rights deal with esports team TSM.
Under the baseball deal, FTX branding will appear on all umpire uniforms starting at the All-Star Game in Denver on July 13 and continue into the postseason. MLB is calling FTX its “first-ever umpire uniform patch partner.” An MLB spokesman said images of the patch are not yet available.
“FTX.COM and FTX.US are excited to enter this first-of-its-kind partnership with Major League Baseball,” FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said in the statment. “We look forward to announcing further details of our long-term partnership throughout the remainder of this year."
In a tweet, Bankman-Fried said FTX and MLB have plans on "collaborating on products and experiences together." The deal includes a provision with the MLB Players Association to "use highlights of players in content creation," according to Wednesday’s press release.
Naming rights for the Miami Heat arena went for $135 million in a 19-year deal. Financial terms of the MLB sponsorship weren't disclosed, though an FTX spokesman told CoinDesk it’s a five-year deal.
Calls to the MLB Players Association were not returned by press time.