Australian Football League inks $25M deal with Crypto.com

The Australian Football League (AFL) has partnered with Crypto.com to support its Women's League (AFLW), marking the first major cryptocurrency sports sponsorship deal in the country.

The deal is worth close to $25 million over the next five years, a marked increase over the AFL's existing $18.5 million sponsorship deal with Toyota. Crypto.com is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange that offers digital wallets and debit cards backed by cryptocurrencies.

The partnership will mark the first time Crypto.com has sponsored an Australian sports team. It will also be the first time it has sponsored elite women's sport globally, a milestone that AFL executive general manager of clients and commercial Kylie Rogers said she was "proud" to be a part of.

"The AFL is proud to be the first Australian sports league and women's elite game in the world to partner with an organization that shares our passion to drive the future of elite sport and technology."

Crypto.com Asia Pacific managing director Karl Mohan said the company was attracted by the relatively high number of women interested in cryptocurrencies in Australia.

“Our latest consumer research in Australia found that more than half (53%) of cryptocurrency investors are women,” he said.

“We’re excited to be the platform of choice for Australians from all walks of life, regardless of gender or background, to embrace cryptocurrency adoption.”

Back in August, a CNBC survey found that women are still less than half as likely as men to invest in cryptocurrencies, with 16 percent of men investing compared to 7 percent of women.

Over the past few months, Crypto.com has amassed a number of sports brand deals totaling more than $1.5 billion. In mid-November, the cryptocurrency firm secured a $700 million deal to rebrand the Staples Center in Los Angeles as the Crypto.com Arena for 20 years.

It also inked a $100 million sponsorship deal with Formula 1 in late June and a $175 million sponsorship deal with the UFC in July.