As part of an agreement with United States-based football team Inter Miami, blockchain network Polkadot has now placed its logo on Lionel Messi’s training kit.
A press release sent to crypto.news states that Inter Miami football players such as FC Barcelona legends Lionel Messi, and Luis Suarez will be wearing training kits with the Polkadot Logo as part of their new partnership with blockchain platform, which is now the club’s global training partner.
The logo will appear on both the front and the back of the tops worn by players and staff during pre-match and training warmups. Inter Miami’s fans will see the new kit for the first in the world on August 31 before a match away to Chicago Fire FC.
As a major partner, Polkadot will be featured on signage throughout the Chase Statium – the home of the football club. Polkadot’s interactive fan zone will engage the club’s fanbase as part of the agreement.
Chrissy Hill said that the sponsorship of Inter Miami by Polkadot – the blockchain infrastructure company behind Polkadot – aligns with the firm’s commitment to the future in entertainment.
Polkadot, a multi-chain network with sharded chains that was introduced in 2020 by Ethereum cofounder Gavin Wood, is a sharded network. The project’s goal is to connect multiple blockchains through its central Relay Chain. This ensures security and consensus. This design allows independent blockchain networks, known as parachains–customizable blockchains with their own specific features and functionalities–to operate in parallel and communicate with each other, enhancing interoperability and scalability across the entire network.
Polkadot has previously partnered with gaming company Mythical and Indy 500 racer Conor Daly.
Polkadot has a decentralized governance system where members of the community vote on allocations, such as marketing expenses and sponsorship agreements. The amount spent for the sponsorship is not disclosed, but the arrangement fits in with past marketing efforts of the network.
Earlier this summer, the crypto community criticized Polkadot’s marketing practices. The project’s H1-2024 report revealed that the project spent approximately $37 million on marketing in the first half 2024 rather than important ecosystem-building initiatives.
