Manchester City Football Club has expanded their sponsorship agreement with crypto exchange OKX, the two announced the deal at the end of June.
Their partnership first began in March 2022, when OKX became the official training kit partner for the European and English football champions.
As part of the expanded agreement, the OKX logo will be featured on the left sleeve of both the men’s and women’s first team playing kits, while also retaining its position on the left sleeve of the first team training kits (practice jerseys), in addition to appearing across further digital and physical club assets.
Proof of Reserves Quells Concerns
Cryptocurrency exchanges sponsoring sports teams has become fairly commonplace over the past few years. The Staples Center was famously rebranded to Crypto.com Arena, while Crypto.com also has their logo on the Philadelphia Sixers jerseys, the Montreal Canadiens ice, and more. Of course, FTX Exchange, which had naming rights to the Miami Heat’s arena, along with various partnerships in the same vein as Crypto.com, collapsed in the fall of 2022, leading many to be wary of partnering with cryptocurrency exchanges or crypto companies in general.
Proof of reserves has become the way to quell these concerns, and it’s what OKX has provided to Man City in order to give them confidence in the partnership expansion. Haider Rafique, OKX’s chief marketing officer, told Coindesk that their partners were curious if they could end up facing a similar situation to what happened with FTX, but upon auditing their proof of reserves, the deal went through. Both Man City and Formula 1 team McLaren, which OKX also sponsors, have been auditing OKX’s proof of reserves, with board members even emailing the exchange with questions and queries, according to Rafique.
It’s certainly a good sign that after auditing OKX, both Man City and McLaren have continued their partnerships with them. It was in May of last year that OKX and McLaren Racing announced their multi-year partnership. It made OKX a Primary Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team and McLaren Shadow esports team. OKX branding is featured on the McLaren cars, the helmets of McLaren F1 drivers, as well as the McLaren F1 and McLaren Shadow team kits.
More recently, OKX hosted its first ever fan zone and watch party for the British Grand Prix, the ‘OKX McLaren Grand Prix Club’. This included a driving race simulator, winning prizes including signed merchandise, and tours of the McLaren Technology Centre.
