AFL clinches $75m crypto deal in first for women’s sport
THE AFL has clinched the first major cryptocurrency sports sponsorship in Australia as part of a groundbreaking deal with Crypto.com that will see the global company emerge as a major backer of the AFLW competition.
Attracted by what it says is a higher than average usage of cryptocurrency by Australian women by global standards, Crypto.com’s AFLW deal is the first it has struck for a women’s sporting competition around the world.
The Singapore-based company has a cryptocurrency exchange and also offers digital wallets and cryptobacked debit cards.
It has splashed out more than $1.5bn for a series of sports branding deals in recent months, including a $US700m ($971m) naming rights agreement for a Los Angeles stadium and partnerships ranging from soccer club Paris St Germain to the UFC and Formula One.
The AFL deal is one of the biggest sponsorships in Australian sport and is close to the $18.5m value of the AFL’s existing major sponsorship with Toyota and the Australian Open’s major partner Kia that is worth $85m over five years.
At just below those two properties, it is likely the Crypto.com agreement with the AFL is worth close to an estimated $75m over five years.
The new partnership will see Crypto.com become the official cryptocurrency exchange and official cryptocurrency trading platform of AFL and AFLW, which has its 2022 season
currently under way.
Crypto.com’s general manager Asia and Pacific, Karl Mohan, said research conducted in Australia by the company found 53 per cent of crypto investors were females, which had encouraged it to take up the AFLW element of the overall deal.
Uniquely for Australia, compared to other markets, is that they generally skew towards blokes, but here we are skewing more towards women,” Mr Mohan said.
“It is very encouraging to see that Australians from all walks of life, irrespective of gender or background, are very keen to adopt cryptocurrencies [and] we think the AFL has led the way to bring gender diversity to Australian sport.”
He said Crypto.com has been attracted to sports sponsorship as a way of promoting its brand as cryptocurrency in general “reaches a level of maturity in the market globally so we are seeing it increasingly become mainstream”.
“Australia is an important market. It is a tech-savvy population, it loves adopting technology early and the regulation is becoming very clear in Australia.”
Senator Andrew Bragg’s Senate fintech committee last year handed down a report recommending an overhaul of tax rules to be more friendly for the likes of bitcoin.
Crypto.com will also appear in advertising during score reviews in AFL regular season and finals matches, when contentious goal line decisions are reviewed on video by off-field umpires.