PSV Eindhoven Football Club Gets €400,000 Sponsorship Deal Paid 100% in Bitcoin
Dutch football giant PSV Eindhoven has signed a partnership with Anycoin Direct to become the first major football club in the European Union to have its entire sponsorship paid in bitcoin. Chances are they won’t be the last.
PSV No Stranger to Crypto
Earlier this year, the club got involved in the crypto sector for the first time when in April it sold an NFT of its historic victory in the 1988 European Cup final over Portugal’s Benfica.
According to the official press release, Anycoin Direct will be the club’s partner for the next two seasons with the goal being to grow awareness of the crypto industry and Anycoin Direct across the European region. While there were many candidates in the race for the partnership, PSV ultimately chose to have a local partner from the Eindhoven area, in the southern Netherlands.
Frans Janssen, the commercial director of PSV, has already created the relevant crypto wallets and expressed enormous enthusiasm about the partnership:
The possibilities and the future that the world of cryptocurrency offers is very promising. As a club in the heart of the Brainport region, we are always innovating; cryptocurrency fits well into this picture.
Frans Janssen, commercial director, PSV
Echoing those sentiments, Lennert Vlemmings, COO at Anycoin Direct, commented:
Growing up in the region, PSV has always been very close to me. As a technology company from the Brainport area we are very excited to be working with PSV. The payment in bitcoin marks the next step for the adoption of cryptocurrency in the EU.
Lennert Vlemmings, COO, Anycoin Direct
According to Dutch publication Eindhovens Dagblad, PSV will be paid €400,000 (about A$650,000) per season. The report further suggests that the arrangement guarantees undefined guaranteed returns in the case of a price reduction, taking into account bitcoin’s volatility.
Sports and Crypto – a Trend On the Rise
Increasingly, we are seeing the worlds of sports and crypto intertwine as unexpected partnerships proliferate within the sector. Earlier this year, the UFC partnered with Crypto.com in a US$175 million 10-year deal.
Turning to the world of football, Watford Football Club will be sporting the Dogecoin logo on its shirts this EPL season, while Crypto News Australia partner and Australian crypto exchange Coinjar recently concluded a partnership with newly promoted EPL team Brentford FC.