The world of sport has changed drastically in the 21st century, aided by technological advancements that have turned cryptocurrencies into a means of exchange that is now more widely accepted than ever. In the UK, the intersection of cryptocurrency and online sports betting has created new opportunities for local rugby teams and supporters to keep growing their stake in the sport.
Through the growing number of crypto partnerships enhancing sponsorship deals and promotions, the sport as a whole and the industries driving them are both growing rapidly. This has also spread to the world of sports betting, which has a huge footprint among sporting culture in the UK. Crypto betting is now also flourishing in popularity across online gambling platforms.
These sites offer digital casino enthusiasts and sports punters the opportunity to bet on sports like rugby from the comfort of their own homes. As an added benefit, players can also utilize Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies they may own to top up their accounts. This is just one way the crypto industry has been enhancing the UK rugby scene as a whole. The sport itself has seen major development, as England builds up to host the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025.
However, even at a local level, rugby and crypto partnerships have a much more direct relationship. In 2022, the Scottish local rugby team, Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians, struck a deal that saw it sponsored by the company that owns Scotcoin — which was believed to be the first and only Scot-owned cryptocurrency at the time.
In February this year, one of the leading European investment companies specializing in digital assets signed a two-year deal to become the sponsor of the Jersey Rugby Football Club. The company Socios, which operates the proprietary cryptocurrency, ‘Chillz’, also took a major leap into rugby in the UK by creating NFTs specifically for fans of the Rugby Union teams, the Saracens, the Harlequins, and the Leicester Tigers.
Initiatives like these continue to expand the crypto industry’s business partnerships that focus on UK rugby as a whole. Given how quickly the crypto industry as a whole is growing, it’s likely that such partnerships will soon lead to bigger deals, possibly at national and international levels too. The benefits that cryptocurrencies have provided to investors, owners, the companies that create and operate them, and the financial and business world, have been enormous.
With major sports like rugby constantly partnering up with crypto companies, the industry and the UK sporting scene are becoming more intertwined by the day. Given the opportunities the industry can provide for rugby to keep growing from a grassroots level, to women’s rugby, and other facets of the sport, fans of the game are more than happy for such partnerships to keep thriving.
Since cryptocurrencies utilize blockchain technology that enables them to steer clear of central regulatory authorities, they’ve had a massive impact on disrupting global finance. Now more popular than ever, major coins like Bitcoin and Ether have grown exponentially, in some cases turning ordinary early investors into millionaires along the way. That growth is permeating into the UK rugby scene more and more, and no one is complaining about it.
