The year 2021 saw an unusually high participation of sports companies in the crypto world, be it in the form of virtual tournaments or digital content or art. The sports arena is seeing rather rapid adoption of blockchain technology-based products and many multi-million dollar crypto sponsorship deals have been inked so far. We bring to you some of the most popular and attractive sports-crypto deals signed in 2021.

1. The most recent one has been The National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) multi-year deal with crypto platform Voyager Digital signed on December 22. The CEO of the firm Steve Ehrlich believes the deal will benefit it in the following ways:

* It is an opportunity to really engage in a unique way with the NWSL players, fans and the community.

* It also gives a chance to educate people about crypto technology and the ongoing changes in digital assets.

* This can also help women gain a strong grasp of their future through dynamic crypto technology as the players will be imparted financial education on crypto through Voyager’s platform.

* A huge part of Voyager’s investment in the NWSL will be divided among all the players and put in their own Voyager crypto account.

2. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) became the first sports entity to launch its very own NFT marketplace on November 4 in collaboration with core developers FreeTON networks, TONLabs. With this partnership, FIDE aimed to achieve a strong and wider fanbase.

3. The other significant deal was signed on October 27 between WWE with Fox Entertainment along with Bento Box Entertainment to launch an exclusive NFT marketplace for WWE licensed digital tokens and collectibles. The partnership aims to achieve the following:

* Create NFTs to cherish and celebrate the most iconic moments from the past and present WWE Superstars, and its flagship events such as WrestleMania and SummerSlam.

* WWE stars will be showcased alongside events like Summerslam and Wrestlemania.

4. The other major multi-year partnership was signed on October 19, 2021 between the largest US-based crypto exchange Coinbase and National Basketball Association(NBA). This deal aimed to achieve the following goals :

* Educate basketball fans about cryptocurrencies, unique content and innovations from Coinbase.

* Enhance the experience of fans interacting with their favourite basketball players of the league and with each other.

* Entering in the competitive world of professional sports.

5. Another interesting and widely popular crypto-sports event was the first ever online international 10-month long Chess tournament that concluded on October 5, 2021. The event preserved the memories and moments of the tournament in the form of digital collectibles. Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen was awarded the first ever-NFT trophy on winning the tournament. The second copy of the winning NFT trophy signed by Carlsen, worth 6.88 Ether, was auctioned off to a fan.

6. New York-based Drone Racing League signed a $100 million deal with Alogrand, a blockchain platform in September last year.

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