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FURIA have announced the termination of their sponsorship deal with FTX. The Brazilian esports franchise made the decision due to the cryptocurrency exchange company’s recent bankruptcy filing.
The news of their decision to discontinue their partnership with FTX was announced on Twitter by the franchise’s co-founder, André Akkari. He stated that it was imperative to cancel the sponsorship as the franchise’s goal is always the prioritization of their fans.
“FURIA closely follows the activities of all its partners, always attentive to the possibility of being able to contribute with them, but prioritising our fans. … The current case of our crypto exchange sponsor, which is in the global news, serves as an example,” Akkari wrote on his Twitter page.
“After a conversation with our contacts at the company, it was decided that FURIA will discontinue the FTX exhibition, removing the brand from all its spaces. The objective is to prevent the current phase of the company from harming any fan. FURIA continues to value our strong partners and promote them, however always prioritising our fans at any cost.”
The franchise also stated that the announcement was to take effect immediately. FURIA have taken action by removing the FTX branding from their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team’s jerseys at the IEM Rio Major 2022.
Aside from FURIA, FTX was also the sponsor of the North American franchise TSM and the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). TSM and the LCS are yet to announce their termination of their sponsorship deals with the cryptocurrency exchange company.
FURIA had earlier stated their interest in securing a long-term relationship with the Sam Bankman-Fried-owned company. Their one-year agreement with FTX, which was signed in April 2022, had a value of about $3.2 million, but the amount of money paid thus far as part of the deal has not been disclosed.
FTX’s deal with TSM was a more expensive one, with the cryptocurrency exchange company securing an exclusive naming rights deal with the American franchise. The deal was worth $210 million and was to run for a 10-year span. Unlike TSM, the LCS’s deal with the brand was a seven-year deal, which is threatened with FTX’s filing for bankruptcy.
The cryptocurrency exchange company filed for bankruptcy some weeks ago, on October 11 in Delaware, United States. The decision coming from one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges came as a shock to many.
During the company’s last funding round in January 2022, FTX was valued at a whopping $32 billion. However, the company’s issues began with an in-depth report made by CoinDesk on October 9. The report, which shared information that Alameda Research, a sister company to FTX, held a significant amount of the broker’s crypto assets, pushed the company into a whirlwind of no return.
“FTX and Alameda Research are closely tied,” the report read.
“A recent Alameda document showed that the biggest asset on the organization’s balance sheet was FTX’s FTT token; Dogecoin plunges late.
@thesamreynolds and @JPRubin23 report.”
FTX’s close competitor Binance, who initially showed interest in purchasing its rival by signing a letter of intent, pulled out of the move after reviewing the finances of FTX. Binance proceeded to sell its investments in FTT, the FTX’s owned cryptocurrency. Actions taken by the Changpeng “CZ” Zhao-owned company set a bad precedent that saw FTX users selling off their assets.
