Portland Trail Blazers kit patch featuring StormX cryptocurrency platform.
Source: Portland Trail Blazers
The National Basketball Association has won its first cryptocurrency jersey sponsorship after the Portland Trail Blazers reached agreements with crypto platform StormX, the team said Thursday.
As part of the pact, StormX will have a brand presence on the Blazers’ match and training jerseys as well as on the signage in the arena and use the team’s intellectual property internationally. StormX will also create the team’s first NFT, which will be available this month.
The sports agency Wasserman Media Group supported the negotiations on the StormX agreement. The terms of the contract were not made available. However, sponsorship experts assume that the multi-year contract is no more than $ 10 million per year. The Golden State Warriors make around $ 20 million per season on their jersey patch, the most expensive in the NBA.
StormX enables users to earn cryptocurrency when shopping from top brands, such as a cash back or a reward based business model. The company makes income from transaction fees. The announcement of the deal states that StormX has 800 global partners and more than 2 million users. The company also offers a mobile app for Apple and Android devices.
Aligning with StormX also offers an exclusive blockchain component that positions the Blazers for the future of ticketing and fan data collection. Blockchains and technology-related items offer a unique and non-hackable certificate of authenticity.
In a statement, Blazers CEO Chris McGowan described StormX as “revolutionary” and added that the deal will allow Blazers fan base more education “about cryptocurrency and how to earn crypto cashback.”
The cryptocurrency space has been active with sports sponsorship this year. On Tuesday, Formula 1 reached a $ 100 million deal with Crypto.com, and FTX took on the arena name for the Miami Heat in March. This 19-year contract is valued at $ 135 million.
It is questionable whether StormX will get its money’s worth with this sports partnership.
The Trail Blazers have a loyal following and a supportive market, but the team is currently suffering from image problems after hiring new head coach Chauncey Billups, who was charged with sexual assault in 1997. Billups was never charged and eventually settled with the prosecutor in 2000. Still, following the introduction of Billups on Tuesday, the team faced negative headlines and backlash on social media.
The future of franchise star Damian Lillard is also still unclear after the team failed to progress in the first round of the NBA playoffs in 2021. If traded, the value of the patch of blazers could go down. But executives within the club suggest that current PR issues are short-term and should not affect future team business.
The team is owned by the Paul Allen Estate and is worth $ 1.9 billion, according to Forbes.
