FTX’s collapse cost a who’s who of pro athletes and sports brands millions

Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen took a joint L on this one. In June 2021, Brady and Gisele bought an equity stake in FTX and appeared in ads promoting the crypto firm. The ad starts out innocently enough with Gisele annoyed about Brady reminding her he’s got another 10 years left, which in retrospect is uncomfortably meta. Then, Gisele gives Brady a brief explainer, he calls Fireman Ed, who has his number saved as “Worst Person Ever,” Gisele calls a dog walker, and for some reason, a cook quits a job he probably needs back today. On the whole, we witnessed how a multi-level marketing scheme spreads.

Steph Curry’s losing streak in the month of November continued when his investment in FTX also dissolved overnight. FTX recently obtained an in-arena brand placement deal with Golden State’s Chase Center as well as with the G League affiliate and their NBA 2K esports team.

However, Curry was one of FTX’s marquee faces. In one promo, Curry claims he’s “not an expert, and I don’t need to be,” while breaking the fourth wall and staring into the camera. He adds, “with FTX I have everything I need to buy, sell, and trade cryptos safely.”

Like Brady, Curry also received an equity stake and likely lost millions of dollars. At least, we know Curry was being honest. Should have listened to Larry David.

The California Golden Bears signed a $17.5 million, 10-year naming rights deal with FTX in 2021, which expanded their reach into the college football sphere. Right then, we should have known that FTX was bound to collapse because any billion-dollar company worth their salt would have known that naming rights on the football field at a public Ivy that isn’t Stanford is throwing money into a black hole. Cal football hasn’t been watched in years. Perhaps it was supposed to be subliminal messaging for students on the outskirts of Silicon Valley, but there had to be a better way.

Major League Baseball even threw caution to the wind by naming FTX as their official cryptocurrency exchange, then opted to use umpires as their billboard. It’s apropos that The Houston Astros won the final World Series with FTX plastered all over the umps’ shirts considering they once played at Enron Field.

Baseball’s biggest international star Shohei Ohtani was also a brand ambassador who was set to receive all compensation in company equity and cryptocurrency.

No franchise took an even more humiliating blow than the Miami Heat, who terminated their 19-year naming rights deal with FTX a year after they agreed to a $135 million agreement to replace American Airlines as the official brand of the Heat’s home arena. It was small beans in comparison to the $700 million Crypto.com will pay Anschutz Entertainment Group, over the next 20 years to replace Staples as the brand synonymous with Lakers and Kings home games.

The Heat’s stadium deal was merely one domino to fall in Miami’s bid to become the Bitcoin Bro Capital. Mayor Francis Suarez and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried sought to transform Miami into the global crypto epicenter. Suarez wooed FTX, which is based in the Bahamas, and was a clue everything was not on the up and up, FTX moved its U.S. headquarters to Miami.

FTX only paid $14 million of that $135 million arrangement at the contract signing, but FTX isn’t off the hook with the Heat or the city of Miami. Their contract with Miami-Dade County, which owns FTX Arena, dictates that in the event of default, the crypto exchange company would be liable to pay three years of contract fees within 60 days. Currently, FTX owes $16.5 million over the next three years and the County has the right to charge 12 percent interest annually until the payments are made.

Tennis’ former No. 1 Naomi Osaka, David Ortiz, Trevor Lawrence, and Shaq also lost big due to FTX’s collapse. The Washington Wizards and their G League affiliate didn’t take as big of a hit as the Heat, but in a Thanos snap their partnerships evaporated as well. With any luck, this debacle will convince consumers not to follow athletes off a potential fiscal cliff. They can take the hint and they are often being truthful when they tell you they aren’t experts.