KuCoin hires golf champion Adam Scott to participate in rare cross-border collaborations between cryptocurrencies and sports

According to Coinjie.com, KuCoin has invited golf idol Adam Scott to serve as its first global brand ambassador. The deal marks the exchange’s first foray into professional sports sponsorship, demonstrating its clear ambition to connect with new audiences. The September 10 announcement confirmed a partnership with 2013 Masters champion, former world number one Scott. KuCoin said the cooperation is based on a shared spirit of trust and precision. According to the release, Scott, known for his outstanding stability and lasting career on the PGA Tour, will lead multiple global events on the platform. "I am honored to be working with KuCoin as their first global brand ambassador. I firmly believe that cryptocurrencies will play a significant role in future finance and I personally am interested in how it empowers people around the world. I look forward to working closely with KuCoin to create something special," Scott said. The deal comes as a heated love between cryptocurrencies and professional sports, although KuCoin’s choice of sports and ambassadors contrasts with the industry’s established strategies. Total spending on cryptocurrency sports sponsorships rose 20% year-on-year to $565 million, according to a recent report by sports marketing agency SportQuake. Large deals in football and Formula One are dominant, with Crypto.com becoming the largest spender in the category with $213 million, followed by Coinbase and OKX. Football remains the most watched sport, with 20 of the 34 new cryptocurrency sponsorship transactions during this period being football. The consumption boom marks a strong recovery from the cryptocurrency winter of 2022/23, when high-profile companies such as FTX failed, resulting in the invalidation of hundreds of millions of dollars in deals with companies such as Major League Baseball and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1. The subsequent rebound features aggressive new entrants like Gate.io, which grew from zero to $53 million in sports sponsorship in just 12 months. As SportQuake predicts, this momentum is expected to drive total crypto sports sponsorship spending in the 2025/26 season back to a historic peak of $685 million, marking a full recovery and a new round of influx of market participants.