Manchester City Expands On Crypto Partnership
Premier League champions Manchester City has announced that OKX will become the club’s official training kit partner for the 2022/2023 season, expanding on its existing relationship with the cryptocurrency platform.
The agreement will see OKX featured across the training kit of the Manchester City men’s and women’s first teams. The men’s first team will debut the training kit when returning for their first pre-season training session on Monday 11th July, with the women’s team wearing the kit on their return to training next month.
Seychelles-based OKX, formerly known as OKEx, was announced as Manchester City’s official cryptocurrency exchange partner in March. The new announcement deepens the company’s relationship with Pep Guardiola’s team.
Although financial details were not disclosed, according to Forbes, the agreement could be worth more than $20m (£16.5m) for the one-season contract.
Haider Rafique, Global Chief Marketing Officer, OKX, said, “The real grit and perseverance is built on the training ground. This is the way we want to nurture new users on our platform. Being Man City’s official training kit partner helps us extend that mindset from the training ground over to our trading app community.
“We want our community to learn from that mindset and use our demo trading feature to train for the real exchange just like Man City players train before the beginning of the season. Our partnership with Man City has provided a great platform through which we have the opportunity to educate those curious about crypto and offer those already involved the training they need to participate responsibly.”
Roel de Vries, Group Chief Operating Officer, City Football Group, added, “We are pleased to expand our relationship with OKX today, as they become the official training kit partner of Manchester City. OKX and Man City are aligned on values such as innovation and success and for both parties, everything starts with training and education. Since the initial partnership began in March 2022, we have worked together to ‘supercharge the fan experience’ through a number of exciting content activations ahead of high-profile fixtures during the culmination of the 2021/22 season and we look forward to continuing to develop these opportunities over the coming year.”
Football, and specifically Premier League, has begun entering the crypto space in the past year, despite controversy surrounding the promotion of crypto to football’s young and impressionable fans.
A number of high-profile players have signed endorsement deals and clubs, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Arsenal, have secured crypto partnerships. Manchester United has also struck a deal with blockchain group Tezos and Liverpool FC has recently been linked with a deal from the sector to replace Standard Chartered, the emerging markets-focused bank, as its main shirt sponsor. Most recently, Chelsea confirmed a sleeve sponsorship agreement with cryptocurrency group Whalefin.
In line with the training kit announcement, OKX has commissioned renowned street artist Akse P19 and London-based Global Street Art Agency to create artworks featuring Erling Haaland, Jack Grealish, João Cancelo and John Stones across four locations in Manchester. The murals will be fitted out with QR codes that fans can scan for a chance to win a season ticket in the OKX Hospitality Box.
OKX is also the presenting partner of Manchester City’s first global Trophy Tour since 2019 following the club’s fourth title win in five years. The tour will see Manchester City and OKX take the Premier League trophy to the doorsteps of fans in markets including France, Spain, the UAE, Korea, and, for the first time ever, Mexico, Norway and South Africa.
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