Mercedes F1 Drops Logo Of Embattled FTX Exchange, Suspends Sponsorship Deal
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
Mercedes Formula 1 has announced the suspension of its partnership deal with the troubled cryptocurrency exchange FTX. This comes after the exchange announced on Friday that it has filed for Bankruptcy protection in the United States. The bankruptcy filing includes FTX.com, Alameda Research, FTX.US, as well as more than 130 affiliated companies.
The long-term partnership between Mercedes Formula 1 and FTX started in September, which included the placing of the FTX logo on both drivers’ vests and the cars of the racing team. The deal also covered the inclusion of the logo on other facilities. However, following the series of issues surrounding FTX, a spokesperson of Mercedes F1 stated that the racing team has no other option than to drop the exchange’s logo from its cars and other branded facilities from this weekend.
Mercedes Is Monitoring The Situation
The spokesperson added that the team will continue to monitor the situation and see how things unfold. Unfortunately, it has been one bad news after the other for FTX who recently announced a hacking incident that cleared $1 billion from customers’ accounts.
FTX has been one of the pioneers of sports deals in the crypto industry. In March last year, the crypto exchange signed a $135 million deal to buy the naming rights of the American professional basketball team Miami Heat’s home arena.
Additionally, the exchange signed a 10-yer deal as a naming right sponsor of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UTF). The deal is estimated to be worth $17.5 billion. Also last year, FTX entered a sponsorship deal with Major League Baseball. The 5-year deal features patches of the company’s logo on the league’s umpires.
More FTX Partners Could Suspend Their Deals
In August last year, FTX entered a deal with UC Berkeley Football Stadium in its first college sports deal. The 10-year sponsorship deal was worth $17.5 million, and led to the renaming of the stadium to “FTX Field.”
With the series of issues the exchange is having at the moment, it’s not clear whether the deals will continue or if others will back out as Mercedes F 1 did.
Chief Executive Officer of sports deal broker SportQuake, Matt House, stated that there will be no immediate cancellation of deals if this year’s financial payments have been met. But moving forward, the partners may have issues with FTX if the company is out of pocket, which seems to be the case now.
