The NBA has never taken its sights off cryptocurrency.
The NBA was the first professional sports organization to use Dapper Labs’ Top Shot product to bring mainstream non-fungible tokens to market.
As it approaches its 75th anniversary, forward-thinking innovative arrangements appear to be securing the league’s success for another 75 years – and beyond.
The league announced Wednesday that Coinbase has signed on as its first-ever cryptocurrency sponsor.
Crypto deals on the rise
While the partnership’s specific conditions have yet to be revealed, it is known that Coinbase will have access to IP from the NBA’s full portfolio, including the WNBA, 2K League, G-League, and USA Basketball.
Coinbase is listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker “COIN.” Coinbase has a $64 billion market cap. The company’s stock rallied 3.5% Tuesday afternoon.
While this is the league’s first action, individual clubs have been securing cryptocurrency partners for some time.
A team from Bitcoinist reported the Sacramento Kings’ new relationship with Web3.0 infrastructure provider Ankr in last weekend’s ‘Sports Slice.’
In addition, teams like the Portland Trailblazers and Philadelphia 76ers have announced crypto jersey deals in recent months.
After making a stir by securing the Miami Heat’s arena naming rights, Coinbase competitor FTX was one of the first to enter the NBA realm.
The statement comes following Coinbase’s hard-hitting announcement of an impending NFT marketplace, which has over 2 million waiting registrations in less than a week.
Crypto continues to gain momentum
NFTs have been a popular path for teams to explore in addition to the aforementioned Top Shot integration for the league.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors, on the other hand, are just two of several teams that have competed in the NFT domain so far.
Crypto continues to gain traction outside of basketball as professional leagues seek new ways to increase sponsorship revenue.
For instance, Coinbase has become involved in e-sports, as have other exchanges like FTX.
In July, Coinbase announced a collaboration with major e-sports outfit ESL Gaming, while FTX announced a major naming rights agreement with e-sports organization TSM earlier in the year.
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