British esports organisation Guild Esports and cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp have announced the termination of their partnership one year early.
The initial deal between the two parties, which was signed in January 2022, was meant to run for three years, but will now terminate in January 2024.
Despite the termination, Guild Esports has stated in a release that it ‘will have no impact’ on its projected revenues.
Bitstamp signed the three-year, £4.5m deal with Guild Esports in January 2022. The partnership saw the exchange’s branding appear across the organisation’s digital content in addition to its logo featuring on player jerseys.
Guild Esports says a number of new sponsorship deals are in the works and plans on utilising the shortening of the Bitstamp deal to ‘pursue similar contracts’ with other potential partners. Details on future partnerships were not disclosed.
Guild currently has seven partners on its roster including sandwich chain Subway, AI and data analytics company Gerford AI and clothing brand hummel, the latter of which was announced on the same day as Bitstamp’s termination.
Aside from partnerships, the organisation launched Guild Studios in February. The production and creative services division provides a range of services to a number of brands and media owners operating in the esports industry.
Cryptocurrency deals in esports appear to be slowing down following market instability. The most recent deal came in December 2022 with Brazilian organisation INTZ signing Mercado Bitcoin as a sponsor.
For Guild Esports, cutting its Bitstamp partnership short could open the door for more opportunities as it continues to maintain optimism for success for the remainder of the year.
