Leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance announced this week a multi-year partnership deal with Italian professional soccer club Lazio. According to the press release, Binance will become the main jersey sponsor for Lazio and also issue fan tokens for the club.

“We are very satisfied with this new international collaboration… The partnership with Binance will allow us to extend our digital presence and connect with fans and followers from all over the world like never before,” Lazio President Claudio Lotito said.

As per the announcement, the multi-year partnership deal between both companies has an option for a third, and it’s worth up to 30 million euros (appr. $34.7million). The Binance brand will prominently feature on Lazio’s shirt and all communication activities starting with the Italian club’s next home derby match against Inter Milan.

The fan token dubbed “LAZIO” will now be available on the Binance Launchpad to drive the club forward and allow fans participation with their favorite team “through unique and engagement-based rewards, interactivity, gamification and more.” LAZIO will be available for Binance users on Binance Launchpad and later on Spot, bank card purchases and peer-to-peer (P2P).

The latest development means that Lazio has become the first Italian soccer club to launch a fan token with Binance. A host of sports clubs already host their fan tokens Chiliz, a tokenization platform that has partnered with Binance in the past. By launching a separate fan token platform, Binance has become a direct competitor to its former partner.

Sports Industry Accelerates Crypto Adoption 

The sports industry is beginning to adopt cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to connect with fans, attract sponsors and to gain global attention.

Lazio is not the first Italian professional football club to make this move. Two months ago, Italian professional football club, AC Milan announced it has signed a multi-year partnership deal with crypto exchange, BitMEX.

On September 2, another Italian professional football club, Inter Milan announced it has signed a $100 Million multi-year partnership deal with blockchain technology project, DigitalBits and digital banking Platform, Zytara.

A deal that saw DigitalBits serve as Inter Milan’s official global cryptocurrency and Zytara becoming the club’s digital banking partner.

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