FIFA has agreed to strike a sponsorship and technical partnership with Algorand, a blockchain technology firm.
As a result of the deal, Algorand will become FIFA’s official blockchain platform and offer the official blockchain-enabled wallet solution.
Algorand will be a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM Regional Supporter in North America and Europe, as well as a FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023TM Official Sponsor, according to the sponsorship deal.
FIFA ties up with Algorand
Algorand will also help FIFA improve its digital asset strategy by offering blockchain wallet options and increasing FIFA’s exposure in the football-related NFT business.
Meanwhile, FIFA will work with Algorand to increase its media exposure and provide promotional possibilities for the platform.
Notably, Algorand is the first World Cup sponsor from the United States since 2011, less than a decade after FIFA was repeatedly accused in a US criminal investigation into international football corruption and failed to retain long-term relationships. Coca-Cola, Visa, McDonald’s, and Budweiser are among the well-known brands.
Until recently, practically all sponsorship arrangements for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups had been handled by FIFA with firms from the two host nations, Russia and Qatar, as well as China. FIFA, on the other hand, is presently concentrating its efforts on the technological sector.
In addition to Algorand, FIFA has announced a cooperation with cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com for the 2022 World Cup final in March.
Overall, it appears that the intersection of sports and blockchain is proving to be a “huge pie” for large cryptocurrency exchanges to compete in order to grow their businesses.
However, while the scope was previously limited to trades between exchanges, there are now signs that more and more single platforms are entering the sports sponsorship competition.
Tezos (XTZ), the incumbent, becomes a sponsor of Manchester United education tools, Terra (LUNA) joins hands with the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball, and DEX Uniswap collaborates with Esports Team Secret.