Robinhood sponsors French soccer team OGC Nice
The trading app will appear on jerseys and in a dedicated financial web series as part of its EU crypto expansion
OGC Nice audiences at Stade Bollaert-Delelis | Supporterhéninois/"RC Lens – OGC Nice (10-04-2022) 46″ (CC license)
This is a segment from The Drop newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.
During Robinhood’s big crypto announcements in France this week, including an Arbitrum L2 chain of its own, the consumer trading app also unveiled a multiyear sponsorship with French soccer team OGC Nice that kicks off in the 2025/2026 season.
The Robinhood logo will appear across the front of team shirts, plus training and warm-up kits. Expect branded content and digital collabs, as well.
Robinhood will also be part of a dedicated web series with OGC Nice about financial accessibility, according to a message from a spokesperson.
“France is fast cementing its position as a global fintech hub — and it plays an important role in our international footprint,” said Robinhood Crypto SVP and GM Johann Kerbrat in a statement.
“This partnership represents a personal and meaningful moment for me as a lifelong football fan who studied and began my career in Nice, but it also demonstrates our commitment to growing our presence as Robinhood expands across the EU. It presents an opportunity to connect with a passionate fan base and introduce new audiences to a cutting-edge suite of financial products,” Kerbrat said.
Robinhood made some big announcements for EU customers this week including over 200 tokenized stocks and ETFs, plus perpetual futures. Prospective perp traders will have to fill out an application to be approved, though.
The duration and financial terms of Robinhood’s deal with the Ligue 1 soccer team haven’t been publicly disclosed.
The soccer and sports worlds more broadly aren’t strangers to crypto partnerships, of course. FC Barcelona unveiled an NFT avatar and crypto wallet play last month, for instance.
Robinhood has sponsored a few NBA teams in the past including the Washington Wizards, Memphis Grizzlies, and Miami Heat. This year, it sponsored NASCAR team 23XI.
But I still wouldn’t say crypto sports deals are booming — though maybe it’s unfair to compare the landscape to the frothiness of a few years ago.
The last time we really saw tons of them was when FTX sponsored TSM esports, the MLB, two stadiums, Mercedes’ F1 team, the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, and others (which felt like a bit much, even at the time). Around that time in 2021, Crypto dot com reportedly paid $700 million to sponsor an LA-based stadium that’s now the Crypto dot com Arena.
Coinbase, arguably Robinhood’s biggest crypto competitor, has continued to sponsor NBA basketball. It also announced an esports partnership with Riot Games earlier this year.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
- Empire: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.
- Forward Guidance: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.
- 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox.
- Lightspeed: All things Solana.
- The Drop: Apps, games, memes and more.
- Supply Shock: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.
_46.jpg){kind=link}