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The Dallas Cowboys quarterback will do ads and appearances as the crypto industry gets deeper into sports
Dak Prescott
Photographer: C. Morgan Engel/Getty Images
Kim Bhasin
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has signed a multiyear endorsement deal with cryptocurrency firm Blockchain.com as the crypto industry boosts its presence in sports to lure more users.
As part of the agreement, the two-time Pro Bowler will appear in advertisements on television, radio and social media and will make appearances at events. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
Crypto firms have signed numerous celebrities and athletes over the past year to pitch their brands, with high-profile spots including big names like Tom Brady, Matt Damon and LeBron James, but the industry has drastically cut spending on US TV ads since a crash in the crypto market earlier this year erased trillions of dollars in value. Even so, the deals keep coming.
Blockchain.com has an existing partnership with the Cowboys, the first of its kind in football, as the NFL loosened restrictions on franchises doing business with crypto companies. The league traditionally has been slow to allow new types of sponsors but has opened up to the sports gambling and spirits industries in recent years.
Chief Executive Officer Peter Smith said pro football, as the biggest sport in the US, is going to be crucial for the crypto industry as platforms battle for users. That’s why Blockchain.com signed on with the Cowboys, the league’s most valuable franchise.
“What’s interesting to me about the NFL is that crypto hasn’t really been a part of it at all yet,” Smith said. “It’s something we want to be first in.”
Blockchain.com has had its own woes following the market collapse. In July, it laid off about 25% of its staff, or about 150 people, mirroring cuts across many of the industry’s major players. The company was valued at $14 billion in a funding round in March. Smith said it spends a “very small amount” on marketing, relative to its budget.
Prescott, now entering his seventh season as a pro since the Cowboys drafted him in 2016, has had a range of endorsement deals with brands such as AB InBev NV’s Anheuser-Busch, Nike Inc.’s Jordan, Campbell Soup Co.Apple Inc.’s Beats by Dre. He’s also made some investments in companies, including Walk-On’s sports bars and workout service OxeFit.
