In the sporting world, POOF, suddenly the FTX Logo was appearing everywhere. From the marquis of sports venues, to the hoods of F-1 cars, hell, even to the patches sewn upon MLB Umpires uniforms, FTX was permeating sport.

Even big name sporting personalities were getting involved: Tom Brady and soon to be ex-wife Gisele Bündchen; Trevor Lawrence; Stephen Curry; Naomi Osaka; Shaquille O’Neal; Shohei Ohtani; Udonis Haslem; and even former Red Sox HOF’er David Ortiz. Yup big name sport celebrities who signed as investors or ambassadors with FTX when it was riding high, now find themselves searching for the nearest lifeboat. [See, e.g. Musto, J. FTX bankruptcy embroils its sports, celeb investors. (Accessed November 17, 2022)].

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Nonetheless, with the recent bankruptcy filing by FTX and its subsidiaries, sports teams that prior thereto partnered with FTX are making major changes. The future of all of FTX’s sport sponsorships hang in the balance with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. Clearly, the bankruptcy calls all of these sponsorships into serious doubt. [See, e.g. Kelley, L. FTX Spent Big on Sports Sponsorships. What Happens Now?. (Accessed November 17, 2022)].

Let’s give a look at some of these sponsorship deals:

In 2021, FTX purchased the naming rights to the Heat’s Arena by signing a 19 year contract with the team and Miami-Dade County, Florida. The deal cost FTX $135 million. However, on the day FTX filed its bankruptcy petition, both the Heat and the County announced they would be searing for a new naming rights partner.

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Since June 2021, FTX has been dubbed the ‘Official Cryptocurrency Exchange brand of MLB’. In announcing this deal, the MLB referred to FTX as its ‘first-ever umpire uniform patch partner’. As part and parcel of this deal, all MLB Umpires wear a FTX Logo patch on their uniforms. Most likely these patches will be gone at the start of next baseball season.

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In December 2021, the NBA’s Golden State Warriors announced a so-called ‘first of its kind’ crypto partnership naming FTX as its ‘Official Cryptocurrency Platform and NFT Marketplace’. This deal reportedly cost FTX $10 million, however, it is not clear as to whether or not FTX paid this sum in full. If the Warriors are owed money on this deal, they will be required to look to the bankruptcy court for any possible potential relief. [See, e.g. Delouya, S. FTX made massive sponsorship deals with sports leagues and star athletes like Tom Brady. Here’s what experts say could happen after the crypto exchange’s implosion.. (Accessed November 17, 2022)].

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In September, 2021, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team inked a sponsorship deal with FTX while they were the reigning F1 champions (its funny to note, now, that while this sponsorship was in effect the team failed to win a race this season). Terms for this sponsorship deal were never disclosed. But on November 11, 2022, Mercedes-AMG Petronas suspended the deal and disclosed that the FTX Logo would be removed from its racecar. See, e.g. Hayward, A. Mercedes F1 Team Suspends FTX Deal Amid Company’s Collapse. (Accessed November 17, 2022)

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Even College sports has felt the effects of the FTX debacle. In what was the first cryptocurrency sponsorship in NCAA history, University of California, Berkley, signed a 10 year, $17.5 million naming rights deal with FTX. [See, e.g. Cohen, A. FTX Crypto Exchange Buys Naming Rights for Cal’s Football Field. (Accessed November 17, 2022)]. The FTX Logo has, since the bankruptcy filing, been removed from its spot on the 25 yard line on the field and the agreement otherwise suspended.

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The ripple effect of the FTX collapse even hit the E-Sports world. A $210 million deal between FTX and Team SoloMid (TSM) was signed in June, 2021 with TSM purchasing $1 million in FTX native tokens (FTT). According to Esports Insider, at the time of the agreement, TSM was to use these newly found resources to expand by opening new offices in Asia, Europe and South America [See, e.g. Daniels, T. TSM secures $210m 10-year naming rights deal with FTX. (Accessed November 17, 2022)]. Just yesterday, November 16, 2021, TSM announced that the FTX deal was suspended effective immediately. [See, e.g. Lindrea, B. Esports team TSM suspends $210M sponsorship deal with FTX. (Accessed November 17, 2022)].

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Adjunct Professor of Sports Management at Georgetown University, Marty Conway, suggests that the teams and/or organizations partnering with FTX, like those above mentioned, may attempt to recoup their monetary losses by way of litigation or mitigation by looking for a replacement. Conway further views this as the ‘third wave’ of resets in corporate naming (bursting of the dot-com bubble as the first and the 2008 recession as the second). Given the current mess and confusion surrounding FTX, Conway believes that sports organizations might be checking the overall stability of their branding partners adding: ‘It’s a bit of a canary-in-the-coal-mine moment’ [See, Kelley, supra]

Table of Authorities

• Cohen, A. FTX Crypto Exchange Buys Naming Rights for Cal’s Football Field. (Accessed November 17, 2022)

• Daniels, T. TSM secures $210m 10-year naming rights deal with FTX. (Accessed November 17, 2022)

• Delouya, S. FTX made massive sponsorship deals with sports leagues and star athletes like Tom Brady. Here’s what experts say could happen after the crypto exchange’s implosion.. (Accessed November 17, 2022)

• Hayward, A. Mercedes F1 Team Suspends FTX Deal Amid Company’s Collapse. (Accessed November 17, 2022

• Kelley, L. FTX Spent Big on Sports Sponsorships. What Happens Now?. (Accessed November 17, 2022)

• Lindrea, B. Esports team TSM suspends $210M sponsorship deal with FTX. (Accessed November 17, 2022)

• Musto, J. FTX bankruptcy embroils its sports, celeb investors. (Accessed November 17, 2022)