🔊 Ferrari Cuts Ties

Plus: Australia Tennis Is Dropping More NFTs & Tom Brady's FTX Shares

January 15, 2023

GM. Welcome to The Hype Report where we break down the latest news, stories & happenings around sports & web3.

Here's What You Need To Know This Week 📝 

  • Ferrari Cuts Ties With Crypto Sponsor Ahead Of 2023 Formula One Season

  • Tennis Australia Set To Launch New Tennis-Inspired NFTs

  • Tom Brady's Shares In FTX

Let's Dive Into It 🤿

Ferrari Cuts Ties With Crypto Sponsor Ahead Of 2023 Formula One Season 🏎

Scuderia Ferrari, the racing division of luxury carmaker Ferrari has dropped its multi-year partnership deals with Velas Blockchain and chip manufacturing giant Snapdragon.

This results in a cumulative $55 million loss for the Italian team ahead of the 2023 season.

The Ferrari-Velas partnership from 2021 — set at $30 million a year — was focused on increasing fan engagement through NFTs and other initiatives.

In November, Mercedes also took a loss of $15 million after discontinuing its partnership with FTX after the crypto exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Red Bull Racing’s partnership with the Tezos Foundation ended in a similar result as the blockchain platform reportedly decided not to renew its agreement, citing strategy misalignment.

The relationship between the F1 organization and the crypto ecosystem spans beyond partnerships.

In October, Formula One filed ‘F1’ trademarks as it revealed plans to set up an online marketplace for cryptocurrency, tokens, digital collectibles, crypto-collectibles, and NFTs.

Nonetheless, Deloitte’s “2022 Sports Industry Outlook” report predicted an acceleration in the blending of real and digital worlds, along with growing markets for NFTs and immersive technologies going into 2023.

Tennis Australia Launching 2,454 Ethereum NFTs For This Year’s Australian Open 🎾

Tennis Australia, the Australian governing body that organizes national and international tennis tournaments recently announced plans to launch new a NFT collection to reward fans for the annual Australian Open.

Tennis Australia is expanding on its NFT Art ball offering despite what's currently happening in the market.

Earlier last year, Tennis Australia launched the first edition of the NFT collection which successfully sold out in a few days.

The initial NFT collection featured a limited set of 6,776 ball artworks. An additional 2,454 NFTs will be released this year.

This new NFT collection will allow users to have:

  • Access ground passes for finals week

  • Selected United Cup matches

  • Exclusive access to a site with behind-the-scenes footage that is not part of the broadcast of the grand slam.

Tennis Australia Is Still Bullish

Tennis Australia remains bullish on the web3 ecosystem despite the numerous obstacles recently.

Ridley Plummer, who is the senior manager of metaverse and NFTs at Tennis Australia, said this about the new NFT project:

“We shouldn’t just put down our tools and walk away because the market’s having its challenges. There are obviously a ton of external factors that come into play when you’re exploring a new technology like web3 and NFTs, and when you’re an innovative company like Tennis Australia and the AO, there are obviously challenges and rewards that come with that as well.”

FTX bankruptcy docs show Tom Brady held over 1 million shares in the crypto exchange 💨

Tom Brady’s investment in FTX is about to go poof.

New bankruptcy filings show that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback holds over 1.1 million common shares in the dissolved crypto exchange.

His ex-wife and fashion model Gisele Bündchen holds around 680,000, as reported by Bloomberg and Insider.

The NFL star and his then-wife have served as brand ambassadors for FTX since 2021 and even appeared in a series of commercials for the exchange (which really haven’t aged well).

According to an estimate from Forbes, Brady’s investment was valued at around $45 million, while Bündchen’s was worth about $25 million.

In its report, Insider notes, “During typical bankruptcy proceedings, only bondholders are able to recoup some of their losses, while equity investors are usually wiped out.”

Other high-profile figures equity holders include Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, as well as entrepreneur and Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary.

In December, O’Leary told CNBC that he lost the entirety of the $15 million FTX paid him to become a spokesperson for the exchange.

So far, FTX recovered over $5 billion in different assets, including cash, liquid cryptocurrency, and liquid investment securities.

And that doesn’t include the extra $425 million in crypto that the Securities Commission of the Bahamas is holding on to.

All of this still doesn’t make up all of what FTX customers are owed.

On The Same Note... FTX Arena Is No More

The (Miami Heat) FTX Arena is officially no more.

As the impacts from the collapse of FTX continue to spread, this past Wednesday a Florida judge stripped FTX of its naming rights to the home of the Miami Heat.

The news comes after a court hearing in the Bankruptcy Court of Delaware, where attorneys told the court that funds from Alameda Research funded the deal with Miami-Dade county.

The county had already received approval to take down FTX signage after the exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2022.

FTX had racked up prominent sports marketing deals in 2021 and early 2022, committing at least $375 million in disclosed funds to teams and leagues.

In March 2021, then FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried signed a 19-year contract with Miami-Dade, the arena's owners, for a $135 million naming rights deal.

It would have provided Miami-Dade County with $2 million a year.

The deal raised eyebrows in the industry, not only due to its dollar amount but also the fact that FTX was only two years old at the time.

In November 2021, rival cryptocurrency exchange, Crypto.com, signed a deal worth $700 million with the owners of the then Staples Center, the home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, which is still intact at the moment.

Quick Hits 🎯

Thanks for reading this week.

Enjoy the rest of the long weekend and talk again next Sunday,

Malcolm

This newsletter is for informational purposes only and is not financial or business advice in any capacity. The information shared is my thoughts & opinions and does not represent the opinions of any other person, business, entity, or sponsor.

The contents of this newsletter also should not be used in any public or private domain without the author's express permission. The contents of this newsletter should not be used for any commercial activity, for example, research report, consultancy activity, or paywalled article, without the author's express permission.

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