DUBAI, UAE – 15 May 2025 – PRNewswire – OKX, a prominent global player in blockchain technology and the Official Cryptocurrency Partner of Manchester City Football Club, has unveiled its latest worldwide campaign titled “A New Alternative: Manchester City”. Building on the ongoing collaboration between the two brands, the campaign promotes the concept of “rethinking the status quo” through the lens of elite football and cutting-edge technology.
The initiative features several of Manchester City’s top players, including club captain İlkay Gündoğan, prolific striker Erling Haaland, and midfield dynamo Kevin De Bruyne. In a high-energy video campaign launched across OKX’s and Manchester City’s global channels, these stars are seen navigating a visually stylised, neon-lit virtual space, which OKX describes as its “alternative ecosystem”. The digital world reflects the company’s ethos of challenging conventional financial and technological systems.
Global CMO of OKX, Haider Rafique, stated: “This campaign is an invitation to rethink what’s possible. Manchester City are globally recognised for their innovative approach to football, and our partnership celebrates not just sporting excellence, but the disruptive potential of blockchain and Web3 technologies.”
The campaign’s central message aligns with OKX’s broader brand movement, “The System Needs a Rewrite”, which underscores the company’s ambition to provide users with decentralised alternatives to traditional financial structures. OKX, the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume according to CoinGecko, is increasingly positioning itself as not just a platform for digital assets, but as a lifestyle brand for a digitally native generation.
It is the latest activation in the multifaceted partnership between OKX and Manchester City, which began in March 2022 and was significantly expanded in July 2022 when OKX was named the Club’s Official Training Kit Partner. Since then, both companies have launched a suite of digital and real-world fan experiences, including metaverse activations, NFT drops, and global fan engagement events.
For example, OKX and Manchester City collaborated in 2023 to unveil a virtual reality Cityzens experience within the OKX Collective metaverse, allowing fans to interact with digital avatars of City players and engage with immersive content. The club has also opened several themed OKX fan zones during matchdays at the Etihad Stadium, welcoming thousands of supporters.
Manchester City has itself been at the forefront of digital innovation in sport, having previously collaborated with Sony on building its own metaverse stadium and being one of the earliest Premier League clubs to embrace NFT collectibles. The club topped Deloitte’s Football Money League in 2023, marking its growing commercial strength alongside on-pitch dominance.
In support of the latest campaign, OKX will roll out a series of digital-first experiences, giveaways, and exclusive content across its own app and social media platforms throughout the remainder of the 2024/25 season.
As the intersection of sport and digital finance deepens, partnerships like that between OKX and Manchester City highlight the increasing appeal of blockchain firms aligning with global sporting brands to reach mainstream audiences and foster Web3 adoption.
For more information about the campaign, visit the official press release from PR Newswire: OKX Launches ‘A New Alternative: Manchester City’ Campaign.
