Turkish Süper Lig football club Yeni Malatyaspor has claimed a first by signing cryptocurrency and bitcoin trading platform, BtcTurk, as its naming partner and main shirt sponsor.
The Malatya-based club has agreed an initial one-season deal, covering the 2019-20 campaign, that will be worth up to TL7.5m (€1.19m/$1.3m), according to the AA.com.tr website.
Along with covering front-of-shirt branding rights, the club will be officially known as BtcTurk Yeni Malatyaspor this season.
Yeni Malatyaspor has claimed that the deal marks the first time a club of its stature has engaged in a sponsorship deal of this type with a cryptocurrency firm.
BtcTurk chief executive Özgür Güneri said: “I think that BtcTurk Yeni Malatyaspor, which prioritises Financial Fair Play, has a concrete vision, plan and expectations about the future, will achieve great success and our cooperation will continue for many years.”
Last year, Scottish second-tier side Ayr United claimed a “global first” by signing a shirt sponsorship agreement with CoinGeek.com.