Fans watching the Kansas City Chiefs face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII on February 12 will reportedly not see as many advertising spots for cryptocurrency companies as they did in 2022.
According to an Associated Press report on February 6, there were four potential deals with crypto companies for an estimated $6 to $7 million in commercial fees at the 2023 Super Bowl, all of which collapsed after FTX filed for bankruptcy in November. Fox Sports’ executive vice president of ad sales, Mark Evans, said there will be “zero representation” of major crypto companies on February 12, when an estimated 100 million people could tune in to a football game.
During Super Bowl LVI in 2022, companies including FTX, eToro, Crypto.com and Coinbase started advertising. The FTX commercial, which aired about nine months before the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with fraud, featured comedian Larry David telling customers: “don’t miss out” on crypto.
David was later sued in a class-action lawsuit alleging he promoted crypto exchanges to investors without doing due diligence. Other celebrities supporting crypto companies including Matt Damon – for Crypto.com – and tennis star Naomi Osaka – for FTX – also faced criticism from users.
Despite the AP report, the game startup Limit Break announced on February 6 that it will air an interactive ad during Super Bowl LVII which plans to give away dragon-themed nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. The ad does not appear to feature celebrities, but instead includes a QR code that viewers can scan.
related: Tom Brady and other celebrities are named in a class-action lawsuit against FTX
Many global authorities have targeted crypto advertising after the 2022 market crash and companies including FTX, Voyager Digital, BlockFi, and Celsius Network declared bankruptcy. The United States Federal Trade Commission has reportedly opened an investigation into several crypto companies for “possible misconduct with respect to digital assets.” In January, the governor of the Central Bank of Ireland also said he would support legislation banning the advertising of crypto projects to young people. .