X Games will share a title with crypto payments provider MoonPay as part of an eight-figure deal, as the long-running action sports spectacle transitions toward a new team-based format, a MoonPay spokesperson told Decrypt.
The MoonPay X Games League, which is set to draft 150 athletes to “regionally repped” clubs at a Los Angeles-based event in March, is now the product of a three-year marketing deal, the companies said in a press release. The new name was unveiled in Aspen, Colorado during X Games’ final standalone event.
An official logo for the MoonPay X Games League. Image: MoonPay
The X Games signaled that it was adopting a league-based format more than a year and a half ago, before appointing Jeremy Bloom as CEO. The former Olympic freestyle skier and NFL player said in a statement that the team-up centers on “salaries, benefits, and real stakes.”
For athletes trying to find their footing in skateboarding, BMX, snowboarding and freeskiing, X Games’ shift comes with the promise of perks like paid travel expenses and a health insurance stipend, per Powder. It marks a departure from the high-stakes competitions rooted in prize money that have historically made athletes reliant on individual sponsorships.
“Under the new structure, hopefully the athletes will start to become more supported,” Keith Grossman, president of enterprise at MoonPay, told Decrypt, adding that the partnership will provide distribution for decentralized finance projects.
The press release notes that MoonPay’s exclusivity in branding across areas like finance and banking also extends to its network of partners. It references “new team ownership opportunities” that are intended to boost take-home pay for athletes.
X Games has previously said that its clubs will be privately owned, but MoonPay’s involvement tethers the initiative to crypto.
The format draws inspiration from Formula 1, with athletes competing for team points across various disciplines. The league will provide athletes with a base salary of $30,000, according to a LinkedIn post, which draws parallels between the initiative and the NBA for its draft systems and esports for its focus on team strategy.
In some ways, MoonPay’s arrangement is reminiscent of the UFC and Crypto.com. In 2021, the crypto exchange clinched a 10-year, $175 million sponsorship putting its brand at the center of the Octagon. And then there were Super Bowl ads from multiple crypto companies in 2022 that stoked regret among some featured in them, including comedian Larry David after his FTX ad.
More recently, the UFC has been among several sports entities to go exclusive with prediction market platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi. The NHL became the first major sports league to strike a licensing agreement with the firms in October. NFT collection Pudgy Penguins was also involved with the recent NHL Winter Classic.
As the X Games prepares to retire a decades-old format laden with nostalgia, Grossman said MoonPay is trying to affix itself to a brand where there is considerable overlap in terms of audience and ownership. And the company appears eager to extend its reach to names within the industry that may be relatively unknown to viewers.
“We have 35 million consumers that ultimately align with the same demographic as the X Games,” he said. “We have so many areas that we can ultimately bring our partners into.”
