The 2022 Super Bowl Has Been Termed The 'Crypto Bowl', Here's Why

Since the Super Bowl is a big event with thousands of viewers, many companies use the opportunity to be part of the game. This year the highest price for an ad spot reached $7 million. Companies are ready to pay such a considerable sum of money for a serious reason. It's not a secret that the Super Bowl is not only a game but also a space for promotions - it's a great chance for companies to sell their products or raise awareness. Dave Sutton, CEO of marketing consultancy TopRight said to Fortune, "The Super Bowl moment has a particular value that just doesn't exist elsewhere." This year, entertainment, health & wellness, technology, automotive, and travel companies were the advertisers, but among them were completely new areas. Have you heard of crypto companies?

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The crypto companies that paid for the Super Bowl ads are eToro, FTX, Crypto.com, Coinbase, and BitBuy (this one ran during the Canadian broadcast of the game.) Here's what you need to know about them.

FTX is a crypto exchange platform whose co-founder has over $24 bln net worth. He's only 29 years old, but he definitely has an entrepreneurial spirit. FTX invested heavily in sports partnerships, purchasing sponsorship from Major League Baseball, Mercedes Formula One team, the Washington Capitals, and Washington Wizards. Additionally, they paid for an advertisement with Tom Brady, David Oritz, and Steph Curry. And they made a $135 million deal to rename the Miami Heat's stadium to FTX Arena. "We want to make sure that we're painting, hopefully, a healthy image of ourselves and the industry," said Bankman-Fried to the Washington Post. FTX gave away bitcoin to the winners as part of its Super Bowl campaign.

Crypto.com introduced an ad with LeBron James and paid $700 mln to rename the Staples Center arena in Los Angeles. The cryptocurrency exchange company aims to be more visible for sure. It ran ads in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Formula One racing, and professional basketball. Also, it partnered with Matt Damon, but his ads didn't appear in the Super Bowl spot. Crypto.com, as well as FTX, rank in the top 10 crypto exchanges worldwide.

Coinbase spent $14 mln on an ad encouraging viewers to sign up for an account; until February 15, new users received $15 in BTC. This was undoubtedly a brilliant idea; even without celebrities, they managed to create the most talked-about ad. The company reported 20 mln hits on its website in one minute - that was enough to crash the app for a while. The following day the app became the #2 most downloaded iPhone app on the App Store.

Some companies just start their journey. BitBuy, Canada's first approved crypto firm, cooperated with Kyle Lowry, the Miami Heat guard. It has over 375,000 users and $4.4 billion transacted through its platform. Another firm, an Israel-based eToro spent $25 mln on a global marketing campaign.

Well, it seems cryptocurrencies have reached their goal. According to the survey conducted by Morning Consult, 44% of Super Bowl viewers are familiar with cryptocurrency. Additionally, 1 in 4 adults owns at least some cryptocurrency, and over 36% are "likely to invest in or trade cryptocurrency in the next six months."

Not really. In 2000, during the Super Bowl XXXIV, internet companies ran advertisements. 20% of the 61 ads were purchased by dot-coms. Although the web companies purchased $44 mln worth of ads, they failed, as their revenue dwindled, and some "went defunct by the end of the year." Still, the 17 dot-com companies sparked a furor. "The first major brands born online were getting their first taste of mainstream marketing's highest peak. THIS WAS THE FUTURE. The internet had arrived. Business would be transformed forever," writes Fast Company.com. Today, many compare the Crypto Bowl with Dot-Com Bowl. Will cryptocurrency companies survive?

Even though Super Bowl is popular among advertisers, it's questionable whether its huge price is worth it. "No one has yet come up with a good way to measure [the] ROI of a Super Bowl ad. It's very difficult to convert most factors gained from the broadcast to a dollar value," said Fortune.com Simon Antil, the University of Delaware's professor. Indeed, it's more about the ads, not the money paid for a Super Bowl spot. For example, Apple's "1984" ad boosted the sales of Macintosh computers to $3.5 million.

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Yet, the crypto business makes lots of money.

Let's be honest, cryptocurrency isn't a safe thing. Crypto investors can become millionaires only because of luck. "If and when the bubble around some of these hyped investments bursts, a lot of people are going to get hurt and lose money," writes Vox, "Since so much of the crypto landscape is speculative, venture capitalists and hedge funds are more likely to win the speculation game than the little guys caught in the mania."

Today, Bitcoin is worth $50,000, and that's not the final worth, as it's constantly fluctuating. To exchange dollars into Bitcoin, you need to get validation in the network, and that's where the game starts. As The New York Times writes, "All around the world, companies, and individuals known as Bitcoin miners are competing to be the ones to validate transactions and enter them into the public ledger of all Bitcoin transactions." If you got validated, congrats, you get a Bitcoin and become rich.

Crypto business is similar to gambling or sports betting. Companies want users to sign up and invest, and ads are an effective method to give it a try. "If you don't try now, you'll lose big money," that's the message they have, but will it work or not, is not yet clear.

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Sources: Vox.com, Fortune.com, TheVerge.com, The New York Times, CBSnews.com, CNN.com

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