Rangers become latest club to attract crypto sponsorship and fan token
Rangers have become the latest big-name football club to be sponsored by a cryptocurrency brand.
The Glasgow-based outfit – currently 15 points clear of city rivals Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premier League – have signed a deal with Bitci.com whose logo will appear on the first team’s shorts.
Bitci will also be creating a ‘fan token’ – a phenomenon which has proved successful with several European clubs.
Last week, AC Milan announced it had raised more than €5 million with the launch of its fan token, while a raft of other clubs such as FC Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, AS Roma, Atlético de Madrid, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor were also reporting impressive returns on their fledgling crypto projects.
Announcing the move, Rangers’ commercial chief said teaming up with Bitci – owned by Çagdaş Çağlar – would create a new way for fans to support the team, and highlighted a “willingness to be forward-thinking and capitalise on emerging commercial opportunities”.
“This partnership represents a compelling and exciting new collaboration for Rangers,” said the club’s marketing director, James Bisgrove.
“It will have an immediate and positive impact on the continued growth of commercial revenues.
“We have been inspired by the vision of Mr Çagdaş Çağlar and the ambition of Bitci Technology, at a time when the global value of cryptocurrency has reached a record high.
Valuable opportunities
“We’ve carefully observed several high-profile European clubs that have carved out valuable opportunities in this space and firmly believe, with Bitci Technology as partners, the potential for Rangers and our supporters is significant.”
Bitci chairman and founder, Çagdaş Çağlar, said he hoped the partnership would lead to new investment and success for the club as well as raising awareness of cryptocurrencies to a wider audience.
“We are jubilant to carry out such a significant project with Rangers Football Club, one of Europe’s oldest clubs,” he said.
“This agreement will considerably increase the commercial income of Rangers, which has a great history of sporting success.
“We believe that blockchain technologies will become a crucial part of the sports industry in the near future. Sports clubs that are capable of seeing the importance of this trend today will attain a great advantage in the future.
“In this regard, we would like to congratulate the Rangers management for this outstanding vision.
“We hope that this partnership will lead to new accomplishments in Scotland and Europe for Rangers, which has already won many historic cups. This project will also enable Rangers fans to strengthen their ties with the club.”
FURTHER READING: Morning Wire Football