The team behind the Floki Inu (FLOKI) token has signed a sponsorship deal with Italian football club SSC Napoli.
SSC Napoli was founded in 1926 and is one of the most popular football teams in Italy. The club won its first Serie A title in 1987 under the leadership of global football icon Diego Maradona. It currently ranks first in the league for the 2021-2022 season.
According to a November 23 announcement from SSC Napoli, the Floki Inu logo featuring a Shiba Inu dog wearing a Viking helmet will appear on the back of Napoli’s shirt for the remainder of the current season. In addition, it is displayed on the LED signs around the team’s stadium.
Jay Cassano, Napoli supporter and Cointelegraph CEO, said he was excited to see the club getting more involved in the industry. In addition, he emphasized the importance of crypto partnerships in professional sports as a path to full crypto adoption:
“We see crypto companies and projects targeting all kinds of sports. From the NBA to European football leagues. Presumably, crypto is looking for wider adoption. Leagues like Serie A and La Liga are much more tolerant of crypto sponsorship than, say, the NFL.”
Wider acceptance in the sports world
The Floki team adds Napoli to the list of football clubs they work with. Examples include the Kerala Blasters from the Indian Super League and Spain’s Cádiz from the LaLiga. Floki appears to be following a similar route to the top crypto exchange FTX. This exchange has been aggressively seeking numerous mainstream sports partnerships in 2021.
Napoli has not disclosed whether it is a multi-year sponsorship deal or how much Floki has spent on the partnership. Floki’s marketing department noted that the move was part of the project’s ambitions to become the most famous and widely used crypto currency in the world.
The Floki team has been working on a major marketing campaign since the end of September. The project stated that it had allocated $1.5 million to ad campaigns. Floki sees London as an important location with its branding characterized by transport services in the city. However, the ads proved controversial and caught the attention of the British advertising watchdog, the ASA.
According to a BBC report on Nov. 19, the ASA said it was reviewing a series of advertisements in the sector. It checks whether the ads violate advertising rules regarding complicated jargon and misleading information. However, the Floki Inu team said its ads are legally approved and contain disclaimers regarding the volatility of crypto assets.
Earlier this month, the Floki Inu team also signed an endorsement deal with boxing star and two-time world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. As part of the promo deal, Fury will be featured in the upcoming NFT game called “Valhalla”.