The Boat Race Company Limited (BRCL) has agreed a three-year partnership with Gemini, a FCA-regulated cryptocurrency exchange, custodian, and wallet. The agreement follows a summer-long tendering process conducted by BRCL and secures multi-year funding for The Boat Race.
As Principal Partner, Gemini has naming rights to The Boat Race and associated branding opportunities across The Boat Race’s digital channels, team and staff kit as well as on-site branding on the day of the race. Gemini first secured the role of Principal Partner at the eleventh hour ahead of the 2021 Boat Race, a heavily Covid-affected event held at Ely, Cambridgeshire. The upcoming Boat Race is scheduled for Sunday 3rd April 2022 in London, and returns to the Championship Course between Putney and Mortlake.
Photo Gemini co-founders, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are familiar with the rigours of rowing training.
Credit Benedict Tufnell
BRCL Chair, Tim Senior, says, “We are very pleased to enter into this substantial partnership with Gemini for the next three years and drive forward our ambition to increase the reach and engagement of The Race globally. The confirmation of this contract is testament to Gemini’s vision and connection to rowing that will be seen on a global stage and I look forward to working with them as we bring this new partnership to life”.
The 2021 season saw Gemini additionally support accessibility and diversity in rowing through the Gemini Boat Race Bursary Scheme. The Bursary was established last year, to lessen financial hurdles and widen access to rowing, and raise awareness of rowing in underrepresented areas of the UK. Over £81,000 was donated to inspiring social mobility sporting programs.
“All of us at Gemini are delighted to be the Principal Partner to The Boat Race over the next three years, following our successful partnership last year – we loved working with each and everyone involved and are very excited to be a part of The Boat Race team for this iconic event,” says Gemini’s Head of UK, Blair Halliday.
“A significant outcome from the partnership has been the Gemini Boat Race Bursary Scheme, where we have been able to help support projects that help young people with limited access to rowing to participate in the sport. We are humbled to be able to offer this support and look forward to visiting some of the initiatives in person and learning more about the impact that rowing and sport can have on young people. A big thank you to all the crew, race organisers, volunteers, and everyone involved – we are excited to continue working with you all through this extended partnership.”
Gemini was founded in 2014 by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, four years after graduating from Oxford University. The Winklevoss twins, 40, are former USRowing athletes who represented Team USA at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, finishing 6th in the men’s pair. In 2009 they enrolled in the MBA program at the Said Business School, Oxford, and trialed for Oxford University Boat Club to compete in the 2010 Boat Race campaign. Securing the three and four seats in Oxford’s Blue boat the twins ultimately lost to Cambridge by 11⁄3 lengths.
The world-famous sporting event between the UK’s two historic universities – Oxford and Cambridge spans 192 years of rivalry and the Race has become synonymous with British tradition and educational and sporting excellence. The Race is attended by over 250,000 spectators and watched live on the BBC by millions more in the UK and globally every year.
Sunday 3rd April 2022 will see the 76th Women’s and the 167th Men’s Boat Race return to its iconic Championship Course that stretches over 4.25 miles of tidal Thames in West London from Putney to Mortlake. The Women’s Boat Race will start at 14:23 and the Men’s Boat Race will begin at 15:23.
