Manchester United Inks £20M Deal with Blockchain Platform Tezos

Manchester United, one of the largest football clubs in the United Kingdom, has jumped into the crypto space by inking a massive sponsorship deal with blockchain platform, Tezos, according to a report by The Atlantic.

Though not officially confirmed yet, the club will receive more than £20 million (around $27 million) every year by allowing the blockchain company to sponsor the training kit. Additionally, the report stated that the club finalized filming the promotional material for the deal.

Crypto and Football

Manchester United is one of the most popular English football clubs with a global fan base. It has a rich history, and some of the top players are playing for the club. Any branding deal with the club’s infrastructure will definitely give any company massive exposure.

The blockchain deal is coming when the football club’s previous eight-year-long jersey sponsorship deal worth £120 million with American company Aon expired at the end of last season. Now, Manchester United players are wearing shirts with the Teamviewer logo on them.

Before finalizing the deal with Tezos, the club reportedly held discussions with other potential sponsors, including several blockchain companies too.

Moreover, the Manchester United-Tezos deal might be expected to go beyond trading kit collaboration as the two might be working on technology spaces like metaverse and web 3.0.

Blockchain companies’ interest in football or other football clubs is not new. Several such deep-pocket startups have inked deals with Premier League clubs like Wolves and Norwich. Furthermore, dozens of footballers are issuing their non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to enhance fan engagement.

Another popular English football club, Manchester City recently ended its collaboration with a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform for its ties with a controversial Israeli businessman, who was recently charged with fraud.