After the Sixers announced a new ticket partnership with Ticketmaster earlier this offseason, it became apparent the team would also need a new jersey patch sponsorship deal. Stubhub, the team's first-ever jersey patch sponsor, probably wasn't going to cooperate with the team inking a deal with a rival ticketing platform.
And indeed a new jersey patch sponsor has been found: Crypto.com, a cryptocurrency and NFT platform with more than 10 million users worldwide.
The new patch will make its official debut Oct. 4 in the Sixers' preseason opener vs. the Raptors. Here's what it'll look like:
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The Sixers announced a "long-term partnership" with the crypto platform on Wednesday, which includes more than just the jersey patch. The team is also launching its first-ever NFT (non-fungible token) series through Crypto.com's NFT marketplace.
(If this all sounds like garbled tech nonsense to you, do not worry: it is.)
"We are thrilled to launch a long-term partnership with such a progressive team at Crypto.com, a company that shares our drive for greatness," Chris Heck, 76ers President of Business Operations, said in a release Wednesday. "Crypto.com will be woven into the fabric of our identity, and together, we will change the landscape for how crypto is integrated in sports. We will also leverage Crypto.com’s forward-thinking, global expertise to unveil our first-ever NFT program. These are the types of creative, innovative partnerships that we crave, and we’re thrilled to share this with our fans in Philadelphia and around the world for years to come."
NBA
It's pretty unsurprising that the Sixers landed on a crypto- and NFT-related company for the jersey patch, considering President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey's very public fascination with both the decentralized finance world and the NFT art scene. He spends the majority of his time on Twitter ensconced in those circles.
The patch on the jersey is extremely innocuous and blends right in, which is really all you can ask for out of these things.
It'd be really cool to see the Sixers make a local push and lift up a successful local business instead, but the NBA is all about expanding its global branding right now, so that's probably asking too much.