Crypto Start-Up Sponsors British Masters
The beautiful game of golf will bring cryptocurrency to the “fore” next week. On Wednesday, crypto start-up LIFElabs announced it will be an official sponsor of a professional golf tournament in the UK.
The fledgeling philanthropy-focused firm is one of the main sponsors of the Sky Sports British Masters golf competition which tees off on October 11th at Walton Health Golf Club in Surrey.
LIFElabs will accompany select brands including Adidas, Ladbrokes and TaylorMade in sponsoring the four-day golf contest. The historical competition will be hosted by World Number Two and 2013 US Open champion Justin Rose who will head up a strong field, which also includes the reigning Race to Dubai Champion Tommy Fleetwood.
As part of its sponsorship package, the blockchain technology start-up will host a competition on the ninth hole for players. There’s £10,000 up for grabs for the first player to hit a hole-in-one and a further £10,000 will be divided between Cancer Research UK, a research and awareness charity, and the European Tour Foundation, the official charity of the British Masters which this year will be The Woodlands Special Needs School.
Max Hamilton, European Tour head of commercial partnerships, which is responsible for organising the event, said that he was “delighted” to welcome LIFElabs as a sponsor, saying the company is “a progressive business and a great fit for the Sky Sports British Masters.”
The sponsorship is also a great fit for LIFElabs whose ethos is focused on “investing in the future of humanity” and aims to make a real difference to people’s lives. Luke Chittock, chief executive officer of LIFElabs said they were eager to sponsor the prestigious golf tournament because:
“We know that sport brings people together in a completely unparalleled way.”
He added:
“We partnered with the European Tour because it is an innovative brand within the golfing world, with one eye firmly fixed on the future. As such, both LIFElabs and the British Masters are looking to make a real difference to people’s lives, both here in the UK and across the rest of the world.”
The partnership is viewed as a progressive move on both sides and will guarantee optimum exposure for LIFElabs as the Sky Sports British Masters is an extremely popular event since it returned the European Tour’s schedule in 2015. Last year, the tournament saw a 13 per cent rise in attendance from 2017 as well as generating 22 million impressions on social media.
A UK-based business, LIFElabs’s mission is to make digital currency more accessible to people from all walks of life whilst giving them the chance to donate currency to worthy causes globally. The start-up also donates around a third of its currency, in the form of LIFE tokens) to philanthropic projects.
And although it’s the first time it has sponsored the Masters, it’s not the first time LIFElabs has got into the swing of golf. Earlier this year, LIFElabs entered the golf arena for the first time when it joined forces with GolfSixes for the second edition of the six-hole match play event.
And as digital currencies develop worldwide, it is likely we will see more crypto companies coming into the sporting arena by sponsoring large-scale events. For example, in August, UK-based trading platform eToro landed a landmark advertising deal with seven Premier League football clubs. Paying with Bitcoin, eToro become an official club partner of Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Southampton, Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff City and Leicester City.
The deal provided eToro with a range of marketing opportunities including matchday LED boards, player access, tickets and digital rights and no doubt we will see more of these lucrative partnerships in the future.
By Joy Lewis.
