Crypto sponsorships in esports contracted after the 2021 boom, as the market downturn and FTX’s collapse weakened both the appetite for large deals and confidence in a high-profile sponsor. The retreat was real, but the available deal counts are for sports broadly—not esports alone—so they cannot establish how many crypto sponsorships remain active in esports today.
How quickly did crypto sports sponsorships fall?
CoinGecko counted 33 new crypto sports sponsorship deals signed in 2021, 25 in 2022, and eight in 2023. Its retrospective, updated April 20, 2026, counted 26 deals signed in 2024. The figures show a sharp contraction followed by a broader sports-market recovery, but every count covers sports, not esports alone. They count deals signed in each year, not all agreements still active in that year. CoinGecko’s retrospective identifies the 2022 crypto crash and FTX’s collapse as factors in the downturn.
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One of the biggest esports examples of the boom was FTX’s reported $210 million agreement with Team SoloMid (TSM), identified by CoinGecko as one of 2021’s largest deals. A headline contract value is not evidence that the full amount was paid, nor does it describe the value of every crypto sponsorship.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsWhy did sponsors pull back?
The downturn made large marketing commitments harder to sustain
The crypto market’s fall after its 2021 peak put pressure on companies that had been expanding quickly and reduced the sector’s capacity or willingness to commit to prominent sponsorships. The timing of the shrinking sports-wide deal counts is consistent with that shift, though it does not prove that crypto prices caused any particular esports deal to end.
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FTX’s failure damaged confidence as well as its own deals
FTX’s collapse turned a highly visible partnership into a liability and made the risks of tying a team or league identity to a crypto company harder to ignore. The Los Angeles Times described wider strain among esports investors and sponsors in December 2022, alongside the industry’s cooling momentum. Its account provides context, not a tally of crypto sponsorship cancellations. Los Angeles Times coverage discusses that broader pressure.
Why does a sponsor retreat matter so much to esports?
Sponsorship is a substantial revenue stream for esports organizations, but published estimates use different definitions and populations, so they should not be merged into one industry-wide percentage.
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- SportsTech World Series: Its 2022 report estimated sponsorship at 60.5% of esports revenue distribution for that year. Read the report.
- Deloitte: In its discussion of surveyed esports teams, Deloitte said about 65% of revenue came from core esports activities; sponsorship sales accounted for 37% and prize money for 15% in that mix. This is a team survey measure, not the same estimate as the SportsTech World Series distribution figure. Deloitte’s analysis explains its figures.
A company filing offers a concrete but nonrepresentative example of how sponsorship softness can appear in results. FaZe Holdings reported a $2.8 million decrease in brand sponsorship revenue for its 2023 reporting period, attributing the decline primarily to a lack of new deals and delayed renewals. That company-specific result should not be treated as an industry total. FaZe Holdings’ SEC filing provides the details.
Can other revenue replace a lost sponsor?
Esports organizations can draw on several revenue lines, but none automatically replaces a large sponsorship. An SEC annual report describing team revenue lists league revenue sharing, prize money, athlete transfer and rental fees, sponsorship, and advertising. The mix varies by organization, and some sources depend on competitive results or other conditions. The SEC filing describes these categories.
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- League revenue sharing can provide income tied to league arrangements, where available.
- Prize money depends on competitive performance and tournament outcomes.
- Athlete transfer and rental fees depend on roster activity and the terms of player arrangements.
- Advertising can diversify income, but it is not guaranteed to match a sponsor’s contribution.
These are possible parts of a revenue mix, not a dependable one-for-one replacement for a lost deal. Deloitte’s survey figures also show why the distinction matters: prize money represented a smaller share than sponsorship sales in the surveyed teams’ core esports activity revenue.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Are crypto companies still sponsoring esports teams?
The available evidence does not provide a comprehensive 2026 inventory of active esports-only crypto sponsorships, so it cannot establish a current count or total contract value. CoinGecko’s 26 deals in 2024 indicate a recovery in its sports-wide series from the eight counted in 2023, but the number is not an esports figure and does not measure active agreements. The careful conclusion is that crypto sports sponsorship activity rebounded in 2024, while the current state of esports-specific deals remains unquantified by these sources.
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