Ben Strack

<div id="highlights-block_6271415f2ce7c" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Price of Algorand (ALGO), which is down 50% from a year ago, gets boost after sponsorship news</li>
 <li>Partnership reflects FIFA’s commitment to “seeking innovative channels for sustainable revenue growth,” FIFA president says</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The price of Algorand’s native currency ALGO spiked after the blockchain revealed it would be a sponsor of FIFA and help the organization develop its digital assets strategy. 



ALGO’s price was $0.68 at 10:30 am ET, up about 15% from 24 hours ago, according to data compiled by Blockworks. The price, which was more than $2 as recently as November, is down 50% from a year ago and down 24% month over month.



The current market capitalization of ALGO is roughly $4.6 billion, making it the 31st largest coin, ahead of Stellar’s XLM.



Algorand will become the official blockchain platform of FIFA and provide an official blockchain-supported wallet solution, the company said in a Monday statement. It will be a FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 regional supporter in North America and Europe and a FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 official sponsor.



FIFA will offer advertising, media exposure and promotional opportunities to Algorand, while the blockchain will assist FIFA in exploring ways to delve deeper into digital assets.



A spokesperson did not immediately comment on other specifics of the deal.



The agreement comes after Algorand Foundation CEO Staci Warden <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/former-jpmorgan-exec-named-algorand-foundation-ceo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told Blockworks in February</a> the blockchain was seeking to bolster its marketing efforts by quadrupling the size of its community engagement team and expanding its developer relations unit.  



“This partnership with FIFA, the most globally recognized and distinguished organization in sports, will showcase the potential that the Algorand blockchain has to transform the way we all experience the world’s game,” Algorand Founder Silvio Micali said in a statement.



Switzerland-based FIFA, short for Fédération Internationale de Football Association, was founded in 1904 and is the international governing body of association football. The organization hit a high of roughly $4.6 billion in revenue in 2018, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/268873/revenue-of-the-football-association-fifa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to Statista</a>, due in part to its television broadcasting rights.



“The collaboration is a clear indication of FIFA’s commitment to continually seeking innovative channels for sustainable revenue growth for further reinvestment back into football ensuring transparency to our stakeholders and world-wide football fans — a key element of our vision to make football truly global,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement.



Algorand will not be the only crypto company with brand exposure at the World Cup later this year. Crypto.com <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-com-adds-fifa-world-cup-sponsorship-to-sports-marketing-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced in March</a> that it would be the exclusive cryptocurrency trading platform sponsor for the soccer event, which is set to take place in November and December.



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Algorand Price Up 15% After Deal With FIFA

<div id="highlights-block_623a29cff3ea8" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Crypto.com had already made deals with the Australian Football League and Formula One this year</li>
 <li>Competitor FTX landed a partnership with tennis player Naomi Osaka on Monday</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Crypto.com will be a sponsor for the 2022 FIFA <a href="https://www.fifa.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Cup</a>, which is set to take place in Qatar in November and December.



As the exclusive cryptocurrency trading platform sponsor for the soccer event, the company’s brand will be on display inside and outside the tournament’s stadiums. Crypto.com will also offer opportunities for new and existing users to attend matches or win exclusive merchandise.



“There is no platform bigger, or with a greater reach and cultural impact, than FIFA’s global platform of football,” FIFA Chief Commercial Officer Kay Madati said in a statement. “We are delighted to have a global brand like Crypto.com join us as a sponsor of the exciting and groundbreaking FIFA World Cup in Qatar, ultimately helping to grow our beautiful game on a global scale.”



The company has made sports sponsorship deals a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-com-cmo-on-how-company-went-from-app-to-global-brand/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">core component</a> of its brand-building campaign. It bought the naming rights to the Staples Center in Los Angeles last November as part of a 20-year, $700 million deal and aired a commercial starring actor Matt Damon.



In January this year it <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-com-australian-football-league-sign-18m-sponsorship-deal-in-country-first/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">signed a five-year sponsorship deal</a> with the Australian Football League and last month announced it would sponsor what will be known as the Formula One Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix in May.



The company was also among several industry heavyweights, including FTX and Coinbase, to run an advertisement <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/super-bowl-ads-spark-public-interest-coinbase-site-crashes-from-traffic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">during the Super Bowl</a> on Feb. 13. The 30-second commercial featured LeBron James and followed Crypto.com’s <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/lebron-james-partners-with-crypto-com-to-help-kids-learn-about-digital-future/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">partnership with the four-time NBA champion</a> to teach kids about crypto technology.



Other crypto firms have kept pace on the sports marketing front. Terra, for example, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/washington-nationals-latest-pro-sports-team-to-strike-crypto-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">partnered with the Washington Nationals</a> last month. The baseball team said that stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) could be accepted as a payment method at Nationals Park next season.



Most recently, FTX landed a deal with tennis player Naomi Osaka on Monday. Joining athletes Tom Brady, Stephen Curry and others as a brand ambassador for the crypto company, the four-time Grand Slam winner will produce content and projects to reach young women in crypto.



Founded in 2016,&nbsp;Crypto.com has more than 10 million customers and roughly 4,000 employees across its offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia.



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Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Subscribe to the Empire newsletter</a>.



Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/onthemargin">Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter</a>.



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Crypto.com Adds FIFA World Cup Sponsorship to Sports Marketing Strategy

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_6149ffb49aeed" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>With this new investment, the company said it is now valued at $4.3 billion</li>
 <li>In February, the company previously raised $50 million in a Series A round</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



The soccer-focused crypto platform Sorare has closed one of Europe’s largest Series B funding rounds at $680 million, led by SoftBank.



Investors in the round also include participation from Atomico, Bessemer Ventures, D1 Capital, Eurazeo, IVP and Liontree, as well as previous investors such as Benchmark, Accel and Partech, and business angels including Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and football players Gerard Piqué, Rio Ferdinand, Antoine Griezmann and César Azpilicueta, Sorare said.&nbsp;



In February, the company previously raised $50 million in a Series A round. With this new investment, the company said it is now valued at $4.3 billion.



The company was founded in 2018 as an online game for users to buy officially licensed cards of soccer players, which are traded in the form of NFTs. Players can build teams and play against each other through the platform and face outcomes based on the players’ outcome in reality during a game.&nbsp;



“When my co-founder and I first laid out our vision for Sorare in the summer of 2018, our ambition was to create a new game that could unlock the limitless potential of non fungible technology. Because of our shared passion for the beautiful game, creating a fantasy football product was the perfect place to begin our journey,” Nicolas Julia, co-founder and CEO of Sorare said in a blog <a href="https://medium.com/sorare/sorare-raises-a-record-680-million-series-b-round-to-build-the-next-sports-entertainment-giant-c9c987e4a26d" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">post</a>.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="366" height="326" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sorare.jpg" alt="Sorare" class="wp-image-8337" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sorare.jpg?w=366 366w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sorare.jpg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sorare.jpg?w=289 289w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sorare.jpg?w=293 293w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sorare.jpg?w=246 246w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sorare.jpg?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 366px) 100vw, 366px" /><figcaption>Sorare founders Nicolas Julia (left) and Adrien Montfort; Source: Sorare</figcaption></figure></div>



Paris-based Sorare will use the new funding to recruit new talent in Europe and the US, sign new partnerships, accelerate on mobile and marketing, and expand into new sports in 2022, beyond the world of soccer.&nbsp;



Although Sorare already holds a handful of partnerships with over 50 national teams and clubs, including soccer teams like Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Juventus, it also plans to use the funding to launch new partnerships with the top 20 soccer leagues onboard and the top 50 national teams, Julia said.&nbsp;



Earlier this month, the company also <a href="https://medium.com/sorare/laliga-joins-sorare-419405687d28" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> a partnership with LaLiga soccer league, which is home to the top professional soccer teams in Spain and is one of the top soccer leagues in the world.&nbsp;



In general, the NFT space has taken the world by storm. In recent months, certain NFTs have sold for <a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/beeple-nft-interview">$6</a><a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/beeple-nft-interview" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">9</a><a href="https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/beeple-nft-interview"> million</a>, along with their marketplaces such as <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/opensea-hits-3b-in-monthly-nft-volume/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea</a> reporting monthly trading volumes of over $3 billion.



During a fireside chat at Messari’s Mainnet conference on Monday, OpenSea Co-Founder Devin Finzer said that despite the surging popularity in art and collectibles on the marketplace, gaming could be the “next frontier” for non-fungible tokens, Blockworks <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/opensea-co-founder-gaming-to-be-the-next-frontier-for-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.



“I actually still believe this. A lot of games have been incredibly successful. I really do think gaming is the next frontier for NFTs,” Finzer said at the conference.



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