- Voyager Digital has announced a multi-year promotional deal with The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
- Voyager Digital becomes the NWSL’s first ever cryptocurrency brokerage partner.
- The NWSL is the top women’s professional soccer league in the world.
There’s been no shortage of cryptocurrency related sponsorship deals in sports over the past year. The highest profile of these is no doubt the arena branding deals resulting in the Miami Heat’s arena being renamed the FTX Arena and one of the most iconic buildings in sports–the building formerly known as the Staples Center–being rebranded as the Crypto.com Arena.
There’s been plenty of other deals as well. Crypto.com has been extremely active above and beyond renaming the Staples Center. They signed a sponsorship deal with the NHL Montreal Canadiens, the NBA Philadelphia 76ers. the Aston Martin Formula 1 team and Italy’s Serie A soccer circuit. FTX signed high profile deals with Tom Brady and Stephen Curry. One of Trevor Lawrence’s first sponsorship deals after being drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars was with the Blockfolio crypto platform. Voyager became a partner of the NBA Dallas Mavericks in late October and they’ve just announced a new partnership with The National Women’s Soccer League.
The National Women’s Soccer League is based in the United States and considered the highest level women’s professional soccer circuit in the world. The teams are comprised of national team players from all over the world. Here’s more about the NWSL from the Voyager press release:
The National Women’s Soccer League is the premier women’s professional soccer league in the world featuring national team players from around the globe. The clubs are Angel City FC, Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, Kansas City Current, NJ/NY Gotham FC, North Carolina Courage, OL Reign, Orlando Pride, Portland Thorns FC, Racing Louisville FC, San Diego Wave FC, and Washington Spirit. The NWSL’s Official Sponsors include Ally, Budweiser, CBS, Deloitte, Mastercard, Nationwide, Nike, Twitch, Verizon, and Voyager.
Voyager is now the NWSL’s first ever cryptocurrency brokerage partner. The deal goes beyond the typical promotional arrangement as Voyager will provide players with ‘direct financial support, crypto education and rewards.’ Here’s more about the unique arrangement:
The partnership calls for a significant amount of Voyager’s investment in the league to be used to fund individual crypto accounts for each rostered player in the NWSL. Each player will be eligible to receive an equal portion of the Voyager-established NWSL players’ fund, deposited in an account accessible via the Voyager app. Voyager will also provide NWSL players with financial education on crypto, including key lessons and tools, to help develop long-term financial growth opportunities for players potentially well after their competitive playing careers have ended.
As part of the agreement, Voyager will also inaugurate an NWSL Voyager Player Ambassador roster, featuring one player from each team in the league. Their efforts will include attending educational appearances, creating content, and working with their teammates to manage their Voyager accounts better.
Steve Ehrlich, CEO, and co-founder of Voyager, is excited to associate his brand with the pinnacle of women’s soccer:
“We are extremely proud to partner with the NWSL, specifically to help the league grow and provide its players with crypto education and direct financial support, paid in crypto. We believe strongly in the future of these players and this league, and we can’t wait to get started.”
Marla Messing, NWSL interim CEO, is pleased to add another high profile company to her league’s sponsor roster:
“I’m thrilled to welcome Voyager to the NWSL’s growing list of partners, each of whom offers our clubs and players crucial support as we continue to build a league where the world’s best players compete. Voyager’s investment in the league is especially innovative because we’ve collectively designed the partnership to include direct financial resources for every one of our players, as well as education on the revolutionary changes underway in digital assets.”
Some of you are aware that cryptocurrency is one of my other passions and that I write frequently on the topic. There’s more and more of an overlap between sports, sports betting and crypto with each passing day. I just read a very interesting article about that very topic–self described rabid sports fans are way more into crypto than the general population. Sports betting enthusiasts, even more so. Check out this graphic:
I’m going to do a deep dive into this at some point since it’s only going to be a bigger deal in the future. Knowing the demographics of sports bettors–the demos trend male, affluent and well educated–it isn’t a huge surprise. That’s also a key demo for cryptocurrency. What did surprise me was just how big of an overlap exists.
