Grayscale has become the first cryptocurrency company to sponsor an NFL team, the New York Giants. The Giants organization is hoping their partnership with Grayscale will help guide them in navigating the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

The New York Giants have a new team member as of Wednesday morning. The four-time NFL champions announced a partnership with digital currency asset management company Grayscale.  The company will serve as the team’s asset management partner for cryptocurrency.

Additionally, Grayscale will become the Presenting Sponsor of the Giants Foundation Golf Outing and sponsor all home games. The move reportedly marks the first time a crypto company has partnered with an NFL team.

Grayscale looking to score big with New York Giants partnership

The partnership comes during an explosion in the popularity of crypto assets as well as sports teams and athletes working with digital currencies.

For the Giants, not only are they partnering up to help their asset management, but they also see value in learning about digital assets in general. The organization is hoping Grayscale can aid in navigating the growing world of cryptocurrency and how the team can best incorporate it into their current plans.

One example of this is Grayscale’s plan to host voluntary educational seminars on digital assets for team personnel annually. New York Giants CCO, Pete Guelli, said:

“Grayscale quickly emerged as a company that shares our passion for the New York market but also has the institutional knowledge and network of partners that we can access as crypto continues to evolve.”

The digital currency asset manager is the world’s largest, boasting more than $46.65 billion in assets as of the end of April. Grayscale also recently announced that they will convert their bitcoin (BTC) trust into an exchange-traded fund or ETF. 

Interest in crypto grows for pro sports teams & players

Grayscale might have made the move as the first crypto partner within the NFL, but many other leagues and players have been linked to crypto recently. Just yesterday, the Oakland Athletics announced their plan to sell tickets against dogecoin (DOGE). The second pro sports team in the U.S. after the Dallas Mavericks to do so. 

Meanwhile, players such as Russell Okung paved the way for others to begin getting paid in crypto. After his desire to be paid in bitcoin, others like Sean Culkin, have requested their entire salary be paid in BTC. 

Even the number one pick in this week’s NFL draft, Trevor Lawrence, has shown his support for crypto. First, he partnered with BlockFolio to take a chunk of his signing bonus in digital currency. He followed that up by announcing today the release of an NFT collection to support local charities in Jacksonville Florida.

Despite not being first to the party, the New York Giants have set themselves up to capitalize on the continued success of digital currencies.