Manchester United’s Crypto Sponsor Doubles Its Twitter Following Since Partnership

Cryptocurrency sponsorships are common in the Premier League, but while some crypto sites have boosted their social media following through such deals, others have actually lost followers.

Manchester United sponsors Tezos saw a 110% increase in Twitter (X) followers after signing with the club in February 2022, going from 220,000 to 461,000 within a couple of months.

But in the same period since Manchester City linked up with Quidd in April 2024, the crypto site actually lost 22 followers.

And City weren’t the only ones to see their crypto partners lose Twitter followers. 

Kraken, which sponsors Tottenham, saw its following decrease from 1,530,000 to 1,525,000 from July to August this year, immediately after agreeing a sponsorship deal with Spurs.

Other clubs whose crypto sponsors saw big gains in followers were Arsenal (+93%), Wolves (+34%), Crystal Palace and Newcastle (both +14%).

For this study, we used historical data to calculate the followers during the months before and after each crypto site announced its partnership with their associated Premier League clubs.

As many companies sponsor multiple clubs, we have used a unique sponsor for each club where possible, though Crystal Palace and Aston Villa both signed with Socios on different dates. 

Six of the 20 clubs currently do not have a crypto sponsor. These are Brighton, Brentford, Fulham, Ipswich, Liverpool and Bournemouth.

Below, we have collated follower increase data for crypto sponsors of every Premier League club that does partner with a crypto site.

Twitter (X) Follower Increase For Premier League Crypto Sponsors 

Club	Crypto Sponsor	Date Signed	Followers Before	Followers After	Change	Percentage
Man United	Tezos	Feb 22	220,000	461,000	+241,000	+110%
Arsenal	LABS	Dec 22	30,000	58,000	+28,000	+93%
Wolves	Lake	Jul 24	38,000	51,000	+13,000	+34%
Newcastle	Sportsbet.io	Aug 23	51,000	58,000	+7,000	+14%
Aston Villa	Socios	Aug 21	183,000	198,000	+15,000	+8%
Everton	Stake	Jun 22	124,000	134,000	+10,000	+8%
Leicester	BC.Game	Jul 24	249,000	268,000	+19,000	+7%
Crystal Palace	Socios	Dec 21	264,000	274,000	+10,000	+4%
Chelsea	BingX	Jan 24	194,000	202,000	+8,000	+4%
Nottingham Forest	Floki	Aug 24	614,000	618,000	+4,000	+1%
Southampton	Rollbit	Jul 24	180,395	180,474	+79	+0.1%
West Ham	Etoro	Jul 23	339,000	339,000	0	0%
Man City	quidd	Apr 24	23,448	23,426	-22	-0.1%
Tottenham	Kraken	Jul 24	1,530,000	1,525,000	-5,000	-0.3%

Manchester Clubs Offer Different Returns For Respective Crypto Sponsors

Manchester United signed a multi-year deal with Tezos in February 2022. 

United’s announcement of the deal described Tezos as “one of the world’s most advanced and sustainable blockchains, featured on the club’s range of men’s and women’s training kits.”

In the immediate aftermath of the deal being signed, Tezos grew their Twitter follower count from 220,000 to 461,000, an increase of 110%.

However, across the other side of Manchester it’s a different story.

Manchester City signed a deal with NFT trading site Quidd in April this year, but Quidd actually lost a net 22 followers in the month after the deal was announced.

Arsenal Outperform Tottenham In North London Crypto Sponsor Derby

Like City and United, Arsenal and Tottenham are two rivals at opposite ends of this particular table.

LABS Group, Arsenal’s blockchain-based real estate partner, grew their followers by 93% from 30,000 to 58,000 after signing a deal with the Gunners.

But cryptocurrency exchange Kraken lost 5,000 followers after signing a sponsorship deal with Tottenham, falling from 1,530,000 to 1,525,000 between July and August 2024.

Aston Villa And Crystal Palace Both Benefiting Socios.com

Blockchain platform Socios is one of several crypto companies that sponsor multiple Premier League clubs.

Both Aston Villa and Crystal Palace first partnered with Socios in 2021, with Villa announcing a deal in August followed by Palace in December.

The deals both saw a jump in followers for Socios. After announcing the Aston Villa deal, Socios’ follower count grew eight percent from 183,000 to 198,000. 

Crystal Palace’s deal meanwhile saw Socios gain 10,000 followers, up four percent from 264,000 to 274,000.

West Ham Deal Has No Impact On eToro

One crypto sponsorship deal that appears to have had exactly zero impact is West Ham’s partnership with crypto trading site eToro. 

In the month following the sponsorship announcement in July 2023, eToro’s Twitter following stayed exactly the same, neither gaining or losing any followers.

Luckily for eToro, it also has deals with Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Everton to help boost the site’s exposure.