Racing lovers, start your engines.
Haas F1 Team, the only American-owned team in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, today announced a partnership with OpenSea, The largest NFT market in terms of trading volume.
The new deal will involve production of a series of branded NFTs and cross-marketing during race events where the OpenSea logo will appear on Haas F1 Team VF-22 series cars.
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are unique tokens that are encrypted associated with digital and physical content, and provide proof of ownership of things such as artwork, music, memorabilia, and video game items.
“NFTs have the amazing power to unlock new experiences and give us a canvas that brings people together around the things they love in new ways,” Shiva Rajaraman, Vice President of Product at OpenSea, said in a statement. “We look forward to reviving innovative groups with the Haas F1 Team, building new experiences for their community of dedicated fans and offering new ways for everyone to get closer to the action.”
Sports Obstacles in Crypto
Haas’ deal with OpenSea is the latest in sports leagues – and racing brands in particular – to use Web3 technology to expand their reach and brand awareness. Back in April, crypto exchange FTX and F1 team Mercedes-AMG Petronas announced a batch of NFT racing holdings around the Miami Grand Prix and the 2022 racing season.
In June 2021, Tezoswhich had already entered into a partnership with Red Bull Racing, announced a partnership with the McLaren Racing Formula 1 team.
But Web3’s sports collaboration has been mixed, with only a few successful projects.
In June 2022, FTX confirmed that it withdrew out of discussions To sponsor the jersey patch where the Los Angeles Angels appear, tell us Decrypt It was not appropriate for their marketing objectives. They said the decision was not the result of the recent downturn in the market.
Rival exchange Crypto.com saw its sports league sponsorship deals in trouble in August 2022 when it pulled out of a $495 million sponsorship deal with the UEFA Champions League. The Crypto.com deal came after UEFA suspended its previous sponsorship deal with Russian natural gas company Gazprom by the association in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
But Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner is confident of his partnership with OpenSea.
“We have been waiting to find the right partner in the NFT space, and at OpenSea we have found just that,” Steiner said, “It will be exciting for us to take our first steps in the NFT environment and engage with the passionate OpenSea community.”