Oracle Red Bull Racing sign record breaking sponsorship deal with Bybit
Formula 1 team Oracle Red Bull Racing have agreed a world record sponsorship deal with cryptocurrency exchange Bybit.
The three-year contract is believed to be worth $150m (£111m), making it the biggest crypto commercial partnership in sport in terms of yearly value.
“I’m delighted to welcome Bybit to the Team,” said team principal and chief executive Christian Horner.
“It’s fitting too that, as we enter a new generation of competition of F1 in 2022, with an advanced and potentially game-changing new philosophy of cars taking to the track, that Bybit also exist at the cutting edge of technology.
“They share the Team’s passion to exist at the forefront of technological innovation, to set the competitive pace and to disrupt the status quo.”
The deal is the latest sign of Red Bull capitalising on their success in last season’s F1 drivers’ championship, which saw Max Verstappen dethrone Lewis Hamilton.
It comes a week after the team announced a title partnership with Oracle that is understood to be worth more than £100m per year.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology companies have flooded into sport in the last year. The biggest sponsorship in the sector by total value is believed to be Crypto.com’s rebranding of the Staples Centre in LA for $700m over 20 years.
Bybit has become Oracle Red Bull Racing’s principal partner, as well as cryptocurrency exchange partner, tech incubator partner and fan token issuance partner.
The latter role will see Bybit distribute digital assets, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), relating to the F1 team.
Horner added: “This is also a key mission for the Team and Bybit’s assistance will help us build a deeper more immersive and unique connection with the team for fans around the world.”
“Oracle Red Bull Racing’s unique energy and creativity inspires us,” said Bybit co-founder and chief executive Ben Zhou.
“The team has changed the game in the same way that digital assets have changed the global financial system.”