UP278 The FTX Ripple

FTX, the second biggest cryptocurrency exchange filed for bankruptcy in the US, and the company's founder Sam Bankman-Fried, previously referred to as the King of Crypto, stepped down as chief executive. In the filing, FTX estimated that it had between $10bn and $50bn in assets and liabilities and more than 100,000 creditors, including some of the biggest names in sport, from the Miami Heat to Tom Brady, Mercedes Formula One team and the MLB.The FTX brand has become a familiar presence over the past two years, signing a series of high value sport sponsorships. So what happens now? Both to the money promised and not yet delivered but also to the sports economy more widely, as its relationship with crypto and associated categories comes under intense scrutiny.What are the conversations taking place today throughout the commercial offices of Premier League football clubs, Formula One teams and other major sports rights holders. To pick this apart we have three people with extensive experience of the commercial reality of the sponsorship marketplace. Nathan Homer is chief commercial officer at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and formerly held senior global roles at the European Tour golf, Barclays and Proctor and Gamble.Gary Linke is one of the busiest and most experienced brokers of sponsorship deals working today, having held senior commercial roles at Football League and Rugby Football League, the RFL. Ben Wells is chief commercial office of PTI Digital, and formerly head of marketing at Chelsea Football Club and commercial director at Reading FC and Bath Rugby Union Club.For more analysis and comment on the business of sport, subscribe to the Unofficial Partner newsletter, delivered to thousands of people across sport every Thursday.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.