$210 million deal paused. A 10-years naming rights with FTX officially suspended by TSM
FTX branding will no longer appear on Team SoloMid’s profile, with immediate effect. The official message from TSM was straight and forthright.
What does the tweet mean?
Well, the org made it pretty clear that they will remove logos of FTX from player jerseys, and even from the team and players’ social media profile. This process might take time, but TSM no longer wants to continue the deal with FTX anymore.
Why did this happen suddenly?
To begin with, lets understand what was the deal all about.
So, FTX is basically a cryptocurrency trading platform, founded in 2019, and is the third largest crypto exchange by volume. In June 2021, TSM, one of the most popular esports club had signed a $210 million, 10-year naming rights deal with FTX. Because of the partnership, TSM was renamed as TSM FTX. This November 11th, FTX filed for Chapter 11, a bankruptcy protection in US, mentioning severe liquidity crisis. Sam Bankman-Fried also stepped down as the CEO of the org.
Amidst this financial setback, TSM official called off the $210 deal with FTX. TSM is not the first organization to suspend business deals with the cryptocurrency exchange platform. Brazilian esports org, FURIA has also discontinued its sponsorship deal with FTX.
Will the suspension of the deal have any impact on the org?
Unquestionably, the deal is huge, a $210 million naming rights. But TSM is confidant, this will not affect the org in any way. They have clearly mentioned in the tweet that, as a strong and stable org, the dispute with FTX will not alter TSM’s operating plan.
As mentioned earlier, TSM is not the only org to suspend deals with FTX. Mercedes-AMG Petronas has also discontinued their deal with FTX and removed its logo from their F1 cars. FTX also has deals with League Of Legends Champions Series and Nerd Street Gaming, they haven’t announced any as of now.