The NRL has become the latest sporting organisation to formally make links with the cryptocurrency industry, today announcing a sponsorship deal with exchange company Swyftx.
The three-year deal is reportedly worth more than the AFL’s $25 million deal with the same company, and will include naming rights to the ‘Bunker’ from 2023.
“This is a defining partnership for the NRL and Swyftx and represents a major milestone for the Australian crypto industry,” the company’s CEO Ryan Parsons said.
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“Our Brisbane office overlooks the cauldron, Suncorp Stadium, and many of our staff walk to the ground after work to watch the NRL or State of Origin.”
The crypto and NFT spaces have been rapidly expanding in the past couple of years, with plenty of NRL players already involved with various coins and tokens.
Late last year, Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell said he was working with NFT platform Stadio to promote tokens based off his uncle’s paintings, as well as his own likeness.
“We’re excited to welcome Swyftx as a major partner. Swyftx is an Australian business that operates on a global scale and there are unique ways for our partnership to benefit both organisations,” NRL boss Andrew Abdo said.
“We have a diverse fan base and Swyftx brings an opportunity to promote the game to a wide audience.”
However, the technology is not without its criticisms. Some view the space, and the volatility that comes with its trading, as a form of gambling – targeting young men in an industry that is already saturated with sports betting advertisements.
One leading gambling reform advocate, Reverend Tim Costello, told The Sydney Morning Herald it was “a bad move”.
“Young men are very susceptible and this is immediately available to them which is very dangerous,” he said.
Reports from aggregation website CoinGecko in late 2021 said that the current combined market value of all cryptocurrency had tripled in 11 months, going from $1 trillion USD in January to $3 trillion USD in November.
However, that has now again dropped below $2 trillion USD at time of writing.
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