Commercials for the biggest sporting event of the year are sold out and not one of them will be for a crypto company.
Unlike last year’s “Crypto Bowl,” which included ads from four crypto companies, Coinbase eToro, Crypto.com, and FTX, next Sunday’s matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs will not have any crypto representation, the Associated Press reported.
Partly to blame for the lack of crypto ads in Super Bowl LVII is one of the crypto companies that advertised last year: FTX.
Although once one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world—worth a whopping $32 billion at its peak—the company filed for bankruptcy last year and its former CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with fraud and conspiracy.
Mark Evans, the executive vice president of ad sales for Fox Sports, which will stream the game, told the AP that two crypto companies already had ads secured and another two were “on the one-yard line,” when news of FTX’s implosion broke. Those deals were subsequently scrapped.
Crypto’s fall from grace is reminiscent of the dotcom Super Bowl in 2000. During that game, 17 of the 51 commercials were for internet companies, but just a year later only one advertised during the big game: E-Trade.
The only company in the crypto industry to return to the Super Bowl this year will not be in the United States, but in Canada. Crypto exchange Bitbuy is set to air a 60-second spot during the Canadian broadcast.
While Bitbuy’s Super Bowl ad last year centered on “missed opportunities,” the company’s focus this year will be on the theme of “trust,” after a tumultuous year for the industry. The spot will feature NBA 2022 Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes.
The slowdown in the crypto space last year, along with concerns from companies about an impending recession, affected Fox’s ability to sell out crypto ads. Although 90% of the spots, some of which went for more than $7 million per 30 seconds, sold by the end of last summer, it was a grind to offload the rest, Evans told the AP.
The breaks between the Super Bowl this year will also include ads from Anheuser-Busch, Doritos, and M&Ms, as well as some movie studios and streaming services.
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