Portland Trail Blazers signs NBA jersey sponsorship deal with Seattle crypto startup StormX

[ad_1]

The StormX jersey patch. (Photo courtesy of Bruce Ely / Trail Blazers)

Seattle cryptocurrency startup StormX is doing a big marketing stunt in the corner of an NBA jersey.

StormX has just signed an agreement with the NBAs Portland Trail Blazers that will feature the company logo on the team’s jerseys for the next five years, starting with the 2021-22 season.

The NBA launched its Jersey Patch Sponsorship Program in 2017 which allows teams to earn revenue from businesses that pay to have their logo sewn onto the front left shoulder area of ​​jerseys.

In 2017, jersey patch transactions averaged $ 9.3 million per year. The Trail Blazers previously had a jersey contract with Performance Health and its Biofreeze brand.

StormX did not reveal specific financial data, but said it signed an eight-figure deal that also includes the brand in the arena and the rights to be the exclusive blockchain partner of the Portland Trail Blazers. He also has the right to distribute and conduct marketing activities identified by the team internationally.

StormX CEO Simon Yu (Photo StormX)

Founded in 2015, StormX operates a platform that allows users to earn cryptocurrency rewards when shopping at any of over 750 stores. It also has its own token called STMX which has a market value of $ 209 million.

StormX earns money on transaction fees when its users make purchases from their partner brands.

The StormXs app has over 3 million downloads and has paid out over $ 4 million in rewards to date. It is one of the many crypto and blockchain related startups that are catching the attention of investors.

StormX is the first crypto company to be an NBA jersey sponsor and the first crypto brand to work with the Trail Blazers, highlighting the growing adoption and popularity of technologies in recent years.

To commemorate the partnership, the Blazers will launch their first NFT later this month based on their Gameday poster series.

We are extremely happy to see our team wear such a groundbreaking and groundbreaking company on the front of our jerseys, Trail Blazers President and CEO Chris McGowan said in a statement.

In April, StormX raised $ 6 million to fuel its growth; investors include Plug and Play Ventures, one of PayPal’s top funders, and the Honey rewards app (acquired by PayPal for $ 4 billion).

Total funding to date for StormX is $ 38.7 million. The company, which has 21 team members, plans to offer a debit card later this year and is partnering with a leading payment provider to bring more rewards to cardholders.

StormX is led by Simon Yu, a University of Washington graduate and former KeyBank analyst who also founded Bomba Fusion, a Korean food truck and restaurant company in Seattle. Yu is also a native of Portland, Oregon, and a huge NBA fan who grew up supporting the Trail Blazers.

Yu founded StormX under the name CakeCodes, graduating from Techstars Seattle in 2016. He co-founded StormX with Calvin Hsieh.

[ad_2]