I just read recently that Espanyol have signed a sponsorship deal with SportyCo (
https://www.rcdespanyol.com/en/news/sportyco-new-sponsor-of-rcd-espanyol/_n:6622/), becoming the second 'major' soccer team to establish a partnership with a cryptocurrency after Arsenal announced their partnership with CashBet (
https://www.arsenal.com/news/club-welcomes-cashbet-coin-new-partner). Arguably the Arsenal deal is the more significant of the two, with the global recognition that they attract, but Espanyol upped the ante with their recent victory over Real Madrid.
There have already been individual tie ups with sports people in various fields, but these deals definitely increase the mainstream exposure of cryptocurrency, and a growing acceptance that crypto is here to stay. Whether the companies involved actually go on to be big players in a few years time is another matter, but I think these will be the first of many deals made over the coming years. Sports teams, especially in soccer, do tend to gravitate towards deals with gambling sites, so the Arsenal deal should not come as a huge surprise.
By next season, I reckon there could well be deals in all of Europe's top soccer leagues (England, Spain, Germany, France & Italy), and other major international sports are sure to follow. F1 and golf would be a prime candidates for lucrative agreements to be struck, especially with core viewers matching the demographics of many cryptocurrency investors. Watch this space.