VeChain Signs $100M Multi-Year Sponsorship Deal With UFC

Blockchain firm VeChain announced today it has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). This marks VeChain’s first foray into the sport, following a similar footpath to other crypto projects.

The deal is said to be worth around $100 million, making it one of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) circuit’s biggest sponsorships ever. As part of the deal, VeChain will become the official layer 1 blockchain partner of the organization.

The blockchain platform will have promotional opportunities such as branding in the Octagon, broadcast/social media integrations, and sponsoring UFC’s fighter rankings, starting this weekend at the UFC 275 event in Singapore. 

UFC events reach an estimated audience of 900 million TV households across 95 countries. Many of these audiences will potentially be learning about VeChain and the blockchain industry through the latest partnership.

“It is a historical moment when VeChain, the Layer 1 public blockchain with the most enterprise adoption, joins forces with the fastest growing sport to raise awareness that blockchain technology is critical in helping deliver major global objectives, such as sustainability.” Sunny Lu, co-founder, and CEO of VeChain said.

UFC’s crypto sponsorship deals

Meanwhile, this will not be the UFC’s first partnership with a crypto-related firm. In July, the organization inked a $175 million sponsorship deal with crypto exchange platform, CryptoCom. The deal will reportedly last for a decade.

Two months ago, as part of its continued partnership with CryptoCom, UFC announced it would start paying fighter bonuses in bitcoin using the exchange platform. The organization has also in the past collaborated with crypto fan engagement firm Socios.com to launch fan tokens.

Crypto Firms Target Global Audience Via Sporting Partnerships

In recent times, crypto firms have continued to pour huge amounts of money into sponsorship deals with sporting organizations. 

These crypto firms are looking to bring the nascent asset class to a larger audience via these deals. In April, crypto firm Blockchain.com announced a sponsorship deal with NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. 

Last month, digital asset platform WhaleFin struck a sponsorship deal worth $20 million with Chelsea Football Club.