Home of football statistics and historyThere are now so many crypto logos and online trade brands on European football shirts that it feels like they belong there. Crypto exchanges, CFD brokers, and online trading platforms now sponsor more than a third of clubs in Europe’s top five leagues.
The Premier League is the most exposed, with about 70% of its teams having at least one crypto or trading partner. About 30% of clubs in La Liga, the Bundesliga, and Serie A also have similar deals.
One good thing about all these new sponsors for fans is that they are finally making people learn how the numbers work. There are clear patterns that fans can understand for the prices and specials you see under a crypto logo on a sleeve.
For a lot of supporters, that crypto logo on the shirt is their first contact with digital coins. However, the place they actually use them is often in their betting account. The same operators that price up weekend football games let you place bets in Bitcoin or stablecoins across football, basketball, and esports betting from a single wallet. Seeing how these sites plug crypto in alongside cards and e-wallets helps fans understand what these shirt sponsors are really selling. Simply put, these are more than just tokens, but a faster way to move money in and out of their betting apps.
From Betting Bans To “Gambling-Adjacent” Money
Front-of-shirt betting sponsorships are being restricted across Europe. Other teams already have stricter rules than the Premier League, which has agreed to get rid of gambling logos on the front of shirts by the end of the 2025–26 season. As those places shut down, crypto and online trading firms have come in with money that is sometimes as good as the old bookmaking deals.
Investigate Europe’s data shows that 36 crypto and trading brands have partnered with 53 clubs in Europe’s top divisions this season. The clubs’ exposure ranges from LED boards and social media to shirt sleeves and training wear.
According to SportQuake’s most recent market report, cryptocurrency brands spent about US$565 million on global sports sponsorships in the 2024–25 season, with 59% of that amount going to football alone. Since 2019, online trading brands have tripled their own sports spending to about US$183 million.
The result can be seen every time a game is played. When Leicester City played Nottingham Forest in May 2025, both teams wore shirts with either a betting or cryptocurrency sponsor on the front. For Leicester, it was BC.Game, and for Forest, it was Kaiyun Sports. This shows how heavily football now depends on gaming and cryptocurrency brands for money.
Manchester City, OKX, and The Cost of Compliance
The most high-profile example is Manchester City’s partnership with crypto exchange OKX. The Seychelles-registered platform is the club’s official cryptocurrency partner and sleeve sponsor. After a 2023 deal reported to be worth around £55 million over three years.
Earlier this year, OKX’s operator, Aux Cayes FinTech Co., pleaded guilty in a US court to violating anti-money-laundering rules. He agreed to pay nearly US$505 million in fines and forfeitures after authorities said the exchange processed more than US$5 billion in suspicious transactions and allowed extensive US trading without proper checks.
OKX still isn’t registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a crypto-asset business. Its own website warns UK customers that they are not protected by the FCA or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
For City, the lure is obvious. A global crypto giant was willing to pay premium sleeve money and deliver Web3 activations, NFT drops, and digital experiences that align neatly with the club’s tech-driven brand. For fans, the message is murkier – a speculative trading platform, recently hit with one of the biggest AML penalties in the sector, sitting directly on the kit of the defending champions.
When Crypto Sponsorships Are Done Right
There are examples of clubs trying to do this in a more structured, transparent way. eToro’s football deals are about as close as it gets to a responsible version of a crypto-finance sponsor.
In June 2025, AZ Alkmaar announced that it had extended its partnership with trading and investing platform eToro through to 2027. The club highlighted “exclusive content collaborations with players” and events at the AFAS Stadion designed to “bring fans closer to both the club and the world of investing,” rather than simply selling a token or an exchange.
AZ had been a consistent top-four Eredivisie team during the first term, with strong home wins in the Europa League and a run to the KNVB Cup final. This is exactly the type of stable, mid-level European club that long-term partners like eToro like to be associated with.
The other key difference is regulatory. eToro presents itself as a multi-asset platform rather than a pure-play crypto exchange. Most importantly, it’s authorised by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, licensed in the EU under CySEC. Until recently, it was also approved to offer cryptoasset services under MiCA rules in Germany.
This approach isn’t new for eToro. Back in 2018, the company made headlines by paying for shirt and perimeter sponsorships at seven Premier League clubs.
The landmark deals gave eToro player access, digital rights, LED boards, and interview-backdrop branding, and were pitched as a way to “bring Bitcoin to the world of football” while teaching fans how to use a regulated platform and digital wallet rather than a fly-by-night exchange.
When looked at as a whole, AZ Alkmaar’s renewal and those early Premier League relationships are different from some of the high-risk sponsors that are now coming into the game. There should be clear messages that say “your capital is at risk” and long-term agreements with a regulated company where supporters live. There should also be an emphasis on education and investing basics instead of just token hype.
0 Comments