Premier League football club Arsenal FC has announced a partnership with Cashbet, a cryptocurrency marketing itself as being “designed specifically for iGaming” – comprising the first instance of a cryptocurrency sponsoring a major soccer team. Partnerships between sporting entities and virtual currencies appear to be quickly proliferating worldwide, with newly crowned Bellator MMA welterweight champion, Rory Macdonald, receiving 330 DASH to wear branded apparel representing the altcoin in his recent title fight.
Cashbet Becomes First Cryptocurrency to Establish Partnership with Major Soccer Team
Cashbet, a gambling-oriented cryptocurrency from 2012 that is soon expected to conduct an ICO, has secured a partnership with Premier League soccer club Arsenal FC.
Arsenal FC’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vinai Venkatesham, has stated: “We are pleased to welcome Cashbet Coin as our partner. We are looking forward to working with CashBet Coin as they launch their new cryptocurrency.”
The chief executive officer and founder of Cashbet, Mike Reaves, has celebrated the deal, stating “With our ICO for Cashbet Coin, we are actively targeting a global, multi-billion dollar marketplace of iGaming content providers, operators and players. We are delighted to do so in partnership with one of world football’s true giants in Arsenal, enabling us to build our brand and engage this audience in a meaningful way.”
The agreement between Cashbet and Arsenal FC has been made for an undisclosed sum of money for which the company will assume the “exclusive” position of “official Blockchain Partner,” and see its ICO promoted to the club’s “60,000-seat Emirates stadium.”
The Financial Conduct Authority is reported to have “declined to comment on Arsenal FC’s decision to promote a cryptocurrency,” however, a spokesman has emphasized that the institution is planning on “conduct[ing] a deeper examination of the fast-paced developments” pertaining to the cryptocurrency and initial coin offering industries – adding that it will be willing to take “further regulatory action” if required.
The partnerships between cryptocurrency companies and sporting entities appear to be quickly moving toward the mainstream, having come along way since early efforts such as Dogecoin’s fundraising for the Jamaican bobsled team, or Potcoin’s sponsorship of Dennis Rodman’s North Korean adventures.
In late December 2017, Dash announced it had partnered with top-ranked welterweight MMA fighter and cryptocurrency advocate, Rory Macdonald, ahead of Macdonald’s title shot with the promotion scheduled for January 20th, 2018. The Canadian was able to secure 879 ‘Yes’ votes to ‘229’ votes from the Dash community, confirming that Macdonald would receive 330 DASH (then worth approximately $370,000) in exchange for wearing Dash-branded clothing and mentioning the cryptocurrency in interviews and on social media.