With this agreement with Sheffield United, Maneki announced the first football jersey sponsorship agreement made with a meme coin. This situation reveals the effort of cryptocurrency projects to integrate into traditional sports industries.

According to the statement, MANEKI’s cat symbol will be prominently featured on the Blades’ jerseys starting October 18. This will provide the opportunity to introduce Maneki not only to the club’s fans, but also to hundreds of thousands of sports fans across the UK.

Sheffield United’s stadium, Bramall Lane, is one of the oldest active stadiums in football. This will help Maneki reach more than 32,000 fans. Launched in mid-May, Maneki now has over 73,000 holders, with its 8.88 billion token supply reaching $65 million on Solana.

However, despite the news of the partnership with Sheffield United, trading in the meme coin showed a slight decline, according to DEX Screener data. However, price data from Crypto.news indicates that MANEKI is up more than 67% in the last seven days.

This sponsorship deal comes just after the English Football Association banned betting companies from team sponsorships. This has caused crypto projects to take action to fill the gap.

Cryptocurrency projects are taking significant steps towards connecting with traditional sports clubs, claiming marketing spaces in one of the world’s largest sports industries. Web3 companies and startups invested a record $170 million in deals with Premier League and English clubs.

The fact that meme coins are rapidly reaching a market value of tens of millions of dollars and appealing to thousands of users in a short time increases the growth potential of the crypto-PL sponsorship trend. This brings with it the possibility of more Solana-based meme coins also entering into promotional agreements with sports organizations.

Wintermute reported that meme coins account for more than 40% of Solana’s total trading volume. This shows that cryptocurrencies can go beyond just being a financial instrument and can also be used as a marketing and sponsorship tool.

The sponsorship agreement between Maneki and Sheffield United stands out as an important development that builds bridges between the world of sports and crypto. This situation both increases the adoption of cryptocurrencies and helps sports clubs create new sources of income.

In the coming periods, more meme coins and crypto projects are expected to take similar steps. This could allow for further strengthening of cooperation between the sports industry and the cryptocurrency world.