After a Devastating 2022: Crypto Firms Will Not Advertise at Super Bowl (Report)

Cryptocurrency exchanges will supposedly not promote their products and services during Super Bowl LVII this Sunday (February 12).

The bear market in 2022 shook the industry to its core, wiping out close to $2 trillion and causing multiple bankruptcies. One of the most active advertisers at last year’s Super Bowl was FTX, whose demise in November still echoes across the industry. 

From ‘Crypto Bowl’ to No Ads at All

The most anticipated event in the National Football League (NFL) is just around the corner, meaning numerous companies have already inked marketing deals to promote themselves during the match between Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. The sports event is watched by around 100 million people each year, making it a desirable commercial spot. 

Unlike in 2022, the logos of cryptocurrency organizations will reportedly not shine across the stadium this year. Mark Evans – Executive Vice President of ad sales for Fox Sports – confirmed the speculation, adding that beverage giants like Heineken and fast food brands, including Doritos and M&Ms, will take their place.

FTX, Coinbase, Crypto.com, and eToro were some of the companies with the strongest presence during last year’s Super Bowl. Coinbase’s marketing initiative brought so much traffic that the platform experienced an outage. 

Several months later, though, the market collapsed, and the interest in digital currencies started declining. Coinbase dismissed some staff due to the unfavorable conditions last summer and fired more people a month ago.

Crypto.com and eToro also downsized due to the negative trends in the sector, while the biggest shock came from FTX.

The once-valued at $32 billion behemoth experienced massive liquidity issues in November and could not honor its users’ withdrawal requests. It filed for bankruptcy protection just days later, illustrating one of the most spectacular crashes in crypto’s history. 

Should We Expect Bitcoin Bets This Year?

The final playoff game of the NFL is an attractive event for bookmakers and, of course, gamblers. The famous Canadian rapper Drake made a major $1.26 million bet worth of bitcoin on last year’s game between the Los Angeles Rams (LA Rams) and the Cincinnati Bengals. 

He wagered $472K on LA Rams to win the title, around $400K on Odell Beckham Jr. (OBJ) to catch a touchdown and $400K on the footballer to have over 62.5 receiving yards. The musician won his first and second bets and lost the third one, bringing him a profit of $300,000 worth of BTC.

He has previously put money on Formula 1 Grand Prix races, the FIFA final match between Argentina and France, and UFC fights. Keeping his passion in mind, we might witness another bitcoin bet on Sunday.