- Binance has signed Cristiano Ronaldo as a new NFT parter
- No one quite knows what the deal involves yet, but it will take place over a number of years
- Changpeng Zhao recently boasted that Binance has not bowed to expensive sponsorship opportunities
Binance yesterday announced the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo to create a new NFT collection, just days after CEO Changpeng Zhao said that the company had intentionally avoided big-name sponsorship. Ronaldo becomes the latest sports star to get involved in the NFT game, with the announcement of his involvement coming at a time when NFTs are experiencing the same bear market vibes as the rest of the crypto space. The deal will see multiple Ronaldo NFT collections produced each year and released exclusively on the Binance NFT marketplace.
Ronaldo is Biggest Scoop Yet
The NFT space has already interested high profile athletes like Steph Curry, Neymar and Michael Owen (famously), but the capture of Ronaldo is the biggest scoop yet. The 37-year-old Manchester United star revealed the binance partnership on his social media feed without giving too much away about what will actually be involved:
Proud to be partnering with @binance
Together we’ll give you the opportunity to own an iconic piece of sports history.
I’m excited to take this journey with all of you. Let’s change the NFT game with #Binance. pic.twitter.com/SNSCMHggct
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) June 23, 2022
Binance too didn’t reveal much about the intricacies of the deal, saying only that “Binance will launch a global promotion aiming to give Ronaldo’s fans an introduction to Web3 with a compelling entry point into the world of NFTs.”
The coup is an undoubted PR victory for Binance, with Ronaldo having the largest following on Instagram. If past NFT collections are anything to go by, fans can expect famous goals and other moments to be made into NFTs, unless the Portuguese is a secret watercolour artist. Either way, it can’t go much worse than Michael Owen’s doomed NFT release.
CZ Claims Backfire
The news is a little awkward for Binance CEO Changepeng Zhao, who gloated just nine days ago that Binance had been fiscally responsible over the bull run, turning down expensive sponsorship deals where others had done so, only to now sign up the world’s biggest superstar at the start of a bear market:
It was not easy saying no to Super bowl ads, stadium naming rights, large sponsor deals a few months ago, but we did.
Today, we are hiring for 2000 open positions for #Binance. pic.twitter.com/n24nrUik8O
— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) June 15, 2022
It’s fair to say that Ronaldo doesn’t come cheap, and Binance will be hoping the collection turns out to be more than just a tax write off…as if that applies!
