Solana’s Maneki reveals Sheffield United shirt deal

Maneki, a Solana cat themed meme coin, has announced a sponsorship deal with English Football club Sheffield United.

Solana-based Maneki (MANEKI) and Sky Bet Championship team Sheffield United have announced their first football jersey sponsorship featuring a meme coin. According to the press release, MANEKI’s cat emblem will be prominently displayed on the Blades’ jerseys starting October 18.

The move will introduce the Solana meme coin to more than 32,000 fans at Bramall Lane, one of football’s oldest functioning stadiums, and hundreds of thousands of sports fans across the UK.

We are proud to announce MANEKI as Main Partner and official kit sponsor of Sheffield United for the 2024/25 season!

The MANEKI logo will feature prominently on the Blades’ iconic red and white jerseys, kicking off against Leeds United in the Sky Sports Main Event tomorrow.… https://t.co/gOfxHgWwRT pic.twitter.com/106JML1fxc

— MANEKI (@UnrevealedXYZ) 17 October 2024

Launched in mid-May, Maneki has more than 73,000 holders, and its 8.88 billion token supply on Solana (SOL) is valued at $65 million. Despite the news of the Sheffield United partnership, meme coin traded slightly lower according to DEX Screener. Price data from crypto.news showed that MANEKI is up over 67% in the last seven days. 24-hour MANEKI price chart – October 2019

24-hour MANEKI price chart – October 17 | Source: crypto.news

Sheffield United’s deal with the SOL meme coin comes as the English Football Association bans team sponsorships from betting companies.

Crypto projects have stepped up to fill this gap, claiming marketing footholds in one of the world’s largest sports industries. In fact, web3 firms and startups spent a record $170 million on deals with the Premier League and English clubs.

In a world where meme coins like Maneki are rapidly reaching a market cap of tens of millions and thousands of users within months, the crypto-PL sponsorship trend could experience sustained growth. As adoption increases, more Solana-based meme coins may also target promotional deals with sports organizations. Wintermute reports that meme coins account for more than 40% of Solana’s entire transaction volume.