One of the premiere esports organisations Team Liquid have agreed terms with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on a four-year partnership.
Throughout the course of the contract, the two companies will combine their strengths to work on several projects together, as well as looking at ways that the two can integrate together seamlessly.
Part of the process will see Team Liquid’s official store, where the company sell a large percentage of its merchandise, will now offer crypto-based payment methods to customers by accessing Coinbase’s services.
Team Liquid are fresh off a positive week for their Valorant squad after they won the Red Bull Home Ground 2 title, just a short time after the same team earned a spot at the Valorant Champions event, through winning the VCT: EMEA Last Chance Qualifier.
The win was a popular one with esports betting fans given the team was amongst the favourites to win the trophy.
What’s The Deal?
So far details on how the two will collaborate are somewhat light in the press release announcing the partnership. However, both companies are keen on “creating and delivering content that resonates with fans.”
That, of course, could mean a lot of things, but it does highlight that this is a partnership that is more than simply adding cryptocurrency payments to the Team Liquid site store.
Team Liquid’s rosters will soon have a new sponsor emblazoned across the shirt, with the Coinbase logo set to appear on their team jerseys.
Perhaps more exciting is the news that the soon-to-be-released Team Liquid + mobile app will now feature a number of additions from Coinbase, although what these are exactly are not easy to ascertain.
In addition, Coinbase will play a key role in the first Team Liquid Scouting Combine, when the squad will be looking for fresh new esports talent during the first quarter of 2022.
Fifth Such Deal For Coinbase
This latest partnership is the fifth in a series of deals that Coinbase have struck with esports teams or organisations.
Recently the company announced a deal with BIG Esports to follow on from their deal with Evil Geniuses. In addition, Coinbase has agreed partnerships with tournament organisers ESL and BLAST.
It’s a clear statement of intention from Coinbase as their Vice President of Brand at the company, Austin Schumacher, explained:
At Coinbase, we’ve long believed that esports and gaming is the entertainment and competition of the future.
We share a culture of innovation and a strong sense of community – esports and Team Liquid are challenging what it means to be an athlete and changing the way organizations are connecting with fans.
Demystify Crypto
The Co-CEO and Owner of Team Liquid, Steve Arhancet also added his positive take on the partnership revealing:
When we were looking for a potential partner in the crypto space, it was really important that we found someone that was doing it the right way, the Team Liquid way.
A partner who had real infrastructure in place that’s built to last, who possessed trusted expertise and nuance in this new, complex world of decentralised banking and finance.
The more we learned about Coinbase, the more certain we became that this was the partner we were looking for.
Together with Coinbase, we hope we can demystify crypto for Team Liquid fans.
This is just the latest in a number of moves this year that have seen esports teams develop partnership with cryptocurrency exchanges as both seek to take advantage of the opportunities that exist within each other’s area of expertise.
