The groundbreaking partnership deal with The Premier League has officially started. As of now, 7 major sports teams have signed with a crypto partner. This deal is remarkable because it is the first in history using cryptocurrency. In fact, eToro’s UK Managing Director, Iqbal V. Gandham, has been quoted with enthusiasm to bring the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency to a new market. eToro will gain a broad brand exposure through in-game advertising and social media marketing on each of the seven club team’s social media accounts.

The seven major sports teams include Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Newcastle, United Southampton, and Tottenham Hotspur. All will be paid in bitcoin. The newfound partnership hopes to raise awareness not just for the eToro brand but for real-life spending implications of cryptocurrencies. This has the potential to radically disrupt the sporting industry as we know it. Additionally, it will give mass exposure to another use-case for crypto.

From eToro’s 2007 inception, the company has held high hopes of making “trading accessible to anyone, anywhere, and reduce dependency on traditional financial institutions”. After pioneering Bitcoin trading in 2013 via CFDs, the company established themselves as a leader in the crypto space. They are expanding their crypto trading offerings and giving digital currencies a frequent spot on television, social media, and other means of advertisement. Crypto’s notoriety will skyrocket in the public sphere.

Not Just a Marketing Play

Furthermore, by using bitcoin, the Premier League partnership hopes to incorporate other added benefits of blockchain. The Football Club hopes to put an end to ticket scalping and counterfeit merchandising with the help of blockchain.

US Congress passed legislation banning the use of technology buying up tickets as soon as they go on sale. This will help combat ticket scalping. Blockchain brings the ability to build trust across platforms without an intermediary. This could be a crucial missing aspect of ticket sales, price, and resell value. Making it no wonder why sporting events and teams would want to use this technology. They will also be using blockchain to combat lost profits on official Premier Leaguecounterfeit merchandise sales.

England’s biggest football clubs are gaining not only a sponsor but added security with the new partnership. Therefore, with the upcoming 2018 release of eToro’s crypto wallet, this opens up questions of how big this company will be and how this partnership will develop. This goes to show that blockchain and crypto do not only impact the financial sector. As well, baseball team LA Dodgers, and Paris Saint-Germain have started to embrace crypto.