FTX Drops Out Of Talks For Los Angeles MLB Deal

According to a New York Post report, top crypto exchange, FTX, is no longer interested in sponsoring a jersey path for the MLB team, Los Angeles angels. A similar deal involving another unidentified crypto company and an NBA team (the Washington wizards) fell through.

Sources close to the matter said that the current crypto market conditions are why these crypto firms are pulling out of these deals. The unnamed crypto firm would have benefited greatly from its partnership with the wizards. It is a fact that industry regulators and politicians usually attend the home games of these popular basketball teams.

FTX’s Deals In The Sports Industry

Last April, FTX made its first deal in the sports space. It agreed with the NBA team (Miami Heat) to rename their home venue to FTX arena. The deal was worth $135m and would last for 19 years.

Similarly, FTX signed another sponsorship agreement with NHL’s Washington Capitals and NBA’s Washington Wizards last December. Also, the popular exchange struck a partnership deal with Stephen Curry (Golden Warriors’ NBA star). Curry is also a keen NFT collector and creator.

FTX also got involved in other partnership deals in the sports sector. It had a 5-year deal with the MLB. Last October, it paid $20m to the power couple, Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen, to promote its brand.

Brady is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, while his wife is a supermodel. Also, it ran another ad to promote its brand during the Superbowl commercial. The ad featured media personality and comedian, Larry David.

Surviving Crypto Winter

The price of the leading digital asset broke its $20K support last week following intense selloffs in the market. Also, the overall evaluation of the crypto market dropped below $1 trillion.

However, BTC price slightly recovered early on Monday, trading above the $20K levels again. Current Coinmarketcap data shows that it trades at $21,008 and is up 2.30% over the past 24 hours. Many crypto firms have reacted differently to the current crypto market situation.

Coinbase, Gemini, and Crypto.com have announced that they will lay off some of their staff. However, Binance, FTX, and Kraken have stated that they won’t be reducing their staff strength. FTX’s pull-outs from its sponsorship deals may be how it responds to the current bear market conditions. Many crypto firms are cutting costs using various methods to survive this crypto winter.

How The Crypto Industry Can Recover Faster – Harrison

Meanwhile, FTX.us CEO (Brett Harrison) has claimed that regulatory clarity will help the crypto market recover faster from its current decline. Harrison added that traditional institutional investors would be more comfortable investing in the crypto space once regulatory clarity exists. He added that the US SEC’s approval of a BTC ETF is another factor that can trigger a bullish move in the crypto market.