Many crypto companies – including Crypto.com and Coinbase – have responded to a sharp drop in crypto prices and trading volumes by announcing they will cut the size of their workforces.

And following a start to the year that saw firms spend big on plum TV advertising slots, including Super Bowl ads, United States media outlets such as the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal reported that major companies have now gone cold on new sponsorship deals.

The Post quoted the Columbia University Sports Management Professor Joe Favorito as stating that he would be “shocked” if any major new crypto sponsorships are agreed upon “during the current downturn.”

The same report quoted “sources with direct knowledge” of the matter as stating that the crypto exchange FTX had “pulled out of talks to provide a jersey patch” on the uniforms of the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise Los Angeles Angels “in recent weeks.”

FTX last year paid USD 135 million for the stadium naming rights of the NBA team Miami Heat.

The same “sources” also claimed that another patch deal – this one between the NBA franchise Washington Wizards and an unnamed “crypto company” had also been “nixed.”

The report noted:

“The Washington Wizards patch had been seen as particularly desirable for crypto companies since the politicians and regulators who oversee the space attend their games.”

Favorito added:

“What money hasn’t been spent already you’re going to see curtailed, just like we saw during the dot com bubble [of the late 1990s].”

The media outlet did not suggest that any companies are currently looking to walk away from