They value digital items, and they’ve seen both esports and crypto blossom from niche interests into major industries.įTX’s deal with TSM is not only the largest disclosed partnership between crypto and esports firms in terms of dollars, it’s an ideal case study. There’s clear overlap between the participants in both esports and crypto: Both are largely male-dominated industries populated by young, tech-savvy adults who grew up alongside the video game industry.

What’s driving the ongoing convergence of esports and crypto? Decrypt spoke with leaders from both industries to discuss the opportunities they see, how esports teams and leagues are pursuing deeper Web3 initiatives, and the potential for esports to help elevate and draw more attention to NFT-driven games. That trend continued into 2022 along with growing NFT and Web3 initiatives from teams and leagues, plus the rise of tournaments built around NFT-powered games. That was followed by a flurry of sponsorship deals that erupted across 2021, as crypto firms like Coinbase, FTX, and Uniswap aligned with major teams, tournaments, and leagues. Popular teams like OG and Team Vitality launched crypto fan tokens via the Socios platform a couple years back, generating revenue while engaging fans and letting them vote on team decisions. When cryptocurrency exchange FTX announced a 10-year, $210 million sponsorship and naming rights agreement with leading esports club Team SoloMid (TSM) in June 2021, the towering terms sent shockwaves throughout both the crypto and esports worlds.īut it wasn’t the first major move aligning the two buzzy, tech-centric industries. Decrypt spoke with leaders from crypto firms and notable esports teams to explore the reasons for the increasing convergence and what’s ahead.Crypto and esports industry firms have engaged in sponsorship deals plus collaborated on NFT and gaming projects and more.

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