Super Bowl LVI Becomes Crypto Bowl With Commercials, Ad Campaigns For Big Game

Super Bowl LVI could go down as one of the most talked about NFL games of all-time for a growing sector. Talk in the cryptocurrency sector centers on the massive bets being taken by companies to promote their cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms, leading to the game being labeled the “Crypto Bowl” by several publications.

What Happened: Super Bowl LVI will feature commercials from several cryptocurrency companies and ad campaigns tied to the big game.

Super Bowl LVI will air at 6:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 13 on NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp CMCSA. The game is expected to be watched by over 100 million people in the U.S. and millions more worldwide.

This year’s 30-second commercials cost an average of $6.5 million. That’s a cost of 148.83 Bitcoin BTC/USD each for you crypto lovers out there.

FTX: Among the companies that will air their first-ever Super Bowl commercial Sunday is cryptocurrency platform FTX.

FTX revealed on Monday that it will air a Super Bowl commercial and will also give away Bitcoin as part of its ad campaign. The company will air an ad in the second half of the game and will give away the amount of Bitcoin based on the time their Super Bowl LVI commercial airs.

For example, if the commercial airs at 9:02 p.m. EST, FTX will give away 9.02 Bitcoin. The company will pick four winners who share the company’s tweet who will each win the Bitcoin amount.

NFL legend and Super Bowl champion Tom Brady has been featured in Super Bowl commercials and owns a stake in FTX along with his wife Gisele Bundchen.

Related Link: Why Cryptocurrency But No Cannabis Ads During Super Bowl 

Crypto.com: No stranger to airing commercials to promote its cryptocurrency products, Crypto.com will air at least one Super Bowl LVI commercial. The company has spent millions of dollars on commercials since 2020 and that continues with a bet on the big game.

Cryto.com has not released details of their commercial yet, which has led to speculation of whether its key spokesman Matt Damon will or will not appear. Damon trended on Twitter earlier this year with people criticizing the company’s ad approach.

Coinbase: Publicly traded Coinbase Global Inc COIN will air its first Super Bowl commercial during Sunday’s game. The company has not shared details of its commercial yet.

Anticipation continues to grow for Coinbase’s upcoming NFT marketplace that could compete with OpenSea. The company recently sent an email to people on the waitlist for the marketplace, implying a launch could be near.

Viewers will be waiting to see if Coinbase uses its commercial to highlight cryptocurrency trading, the upcoming NFT marketplace or a combination of both.

SoFi Technologies: Fintech company SoFi Technologies SOFI is not planning to air a Super Bowl commercial, but will get heavy promotion during the big game.

The company, which offers trading of 30 cryptocurrencies on its platform, owns the naming rights to the Super Bowl LVI stadium.

The Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals will play at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, giving a potential huge brand boost to the company as it works to add more cuostomers.

Bitbuy: Canadian crypto trading company Bitbuy will air a Super Bowl commercial in its home country. The ad features Kyle Lowry, who plays for the NBA’s Miami Heat and is a former Toronto Raptor.

The commercial provides a humorous take on missing out on buying cryptocurrency by highlighting the amount of shots Lowry has missed in his NBA career. Lowry has made around 4,800 baskets, while also missing more than 6,000 baskets.

“Don’t be like Kyle and miss your opportunity again and again and again and again,” an actor in the ad shouts.

Lowry owns an equity stake in Bitbuy, which has over 400,000 users in Canada.

“There are a lot of conversations in the NBA talking about doing more in NFTs and cryptos,” Lowry said. “People are trying to figure it out and trying to learn.”

Bitbuy aims to reach a massive audience watching Super Bowl LVI, including some Generation X and Baby Boomers who may not have invested in cryptocurrency yet, the company told CNN.

“Bitbuy has reached the point where growing our customer base means attracting new consumer segments,” according to Bitbuy. 

Bitbuy’s commercial will air immediately after the Super Bowl halftime show. The Super Bowl gets between 5 million and 11 million viewers in Canada, according to The Globe and Mail. The game got 8.8 million viewers in Canada last year.

Binance: Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has launched a campaign around the Super Bowl. On Monday, Binance announced it will give out Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) non-fungible tokens during Super Bowl LVI.

The company partnered with celebrities including Jimmy Butler and J Balvin to highlight education needed in the cryptocurrency space and not just listening to celebrities.

“Our campaign is encouraging fans to sound the alarm at CryptoCelebAlert.com during the game. We wanted to commemorate that moment with a POAAP as a reminder to fans to trust themselves when it comes to crypto,” Binance CCO Patrick Hillman said.

Disclosure: Author is long SOFI shares.