The Bitcoin logo (₿) will appear on the shirt sleeve of Premier League football club Watford for the rest of this season, as part of a promotional drive by the club’s main shirt sponsor, betting brand Sportsbet.io.
SportBusiness Sponsorship understands that Sportsbet.io acquired the shirt sleeve rights when it signed with Watford in June for a club record fee, in a three-year deal from 2019-20 to 2021-22.
Read this: Watford unveils ‘record’ front-of-shirt deal with Sportsbet.io
For the first four games of this season, the Premier League logo branded both shirt sleeve positions as a stop-gap until Sportsbet.io was ready to launch its Bitcoin campaign.
Part of the Coingaming Group, Sportsbet.io is a multi-currency sportsbook operator. It allows bettors to play using a range of government-issued currencies and cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, but it is not a cryptocurrency exchange.
Justin Le Brocque, head of Sportsbet.io marketing, said: “The crypto community have been hugely supportive of us since we began, so putting the Bitcoin logo on the sleeve felt like a fun way to give something back while also showing them our support.
“Some of the biggest challenges we, and others like us, face is raising awareness, dispelling common myths around cryptos and educating the public on the advantages and opportunities presented by cryptocurrencies
“Our partnership with Watford marks a major disruption in the world of traditional sports sponsorship, and by adding the Bitcoin logo we hope this world’s first partnership will create even more buzz around cryptocurrencies.”
Although the sleeve rights are already held by Sportsbet.io, the sponsorship will have a crowd-funding dimension, allowing anyone who holds Bitcoin the exclusive opportunity to share in the perks granted to Watford FC sponsors.
Contributors can bid for public LED space shown live during matches, use of the Bitcoin box for eight people and exclusive Watford merchandise.
Sportsbet.io.launched its main shirt deal with its ‘Know No Borders’ campaign, which highlights the brand’s multi-country. multi-sport and multi-currency offering.