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Fantasy sports startup Sorare reached a multi-year agreement with the Premier League to allow players to use and trade NFTs and digital sports cards from the twenty clubs of the world’s biggest soccer league.
Sorare to Include NFTs of Players from Premier League Teams
Fantasy soccer game Sorare is teaming up with the Premier League in a deal that will allow Sorare users to purchase and use non-fungible tokens (NFTs) licensed by the world’s biggest soccer league, CNBC reported Monday. The 4-year license will let players sell digital sports cards from all 20 Premier League clubs, according to the official statement
“The Premier League is a truly global competition and has been the home to so many iconic moments and players over the last 30 years. As football fans ourselves, this partnership is something we’ve dreamt of since we founded the business.”
– said Nicolas Julia, co-founder and CEO of Sorare.
The agreement comes after reports in October about a potential partnership between Sorare and the Premier League that could be worth around 30 million pounds ($37.13 million) a year. It likely took a bit longer for its company to reach a deal with the Premier League because the soccer league had an existing NFT licensing deal with another company.
Premier League, one of the most-watched sports leagues in the world, forayed into NFTs and the metaverse in June 2022 when it issued two trademark filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The filings involved the league’s name and “lion head” logo, as well as its “loving cup trophy” logo.
Meanwhile, the deal also marks a huge step forward for Sorare, a French game with more than three million global users. The game allows players to compete in fantasy soccer games, with the players’ success depending on the real-time performance of soccer players on the pitch. Sorare said it would also introduce two new features in the game, including the ability to compete with league-specific player cards and a financial fair play feature that prevents players from picking all-star teams.
NFTs Still Attracting Interest from the Sporting Space
The deal between Sorare and the Premier League signals that the sporting industry remains highly interested in digital assets despite the severe market downturn in the past year. Following NFTs’ astronomical growth in 2021, the sector has seen its price and sales volume fall sharply in 2022 as investors rotated away from risk assets amid crypto winter.
During the 2021 craze, several highly successful soccer teams and athletes promoted digital assets like NFTs and the so-called “fan tokens” to drive fan engagement.
More recently, crypto exchange OKX rolled out the NFT Football Cup ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup won by Argentina last month. The competition gave the players a chance to compete for $1 million in spot prizes.
Do you think the partnership between Sorare and the Premier League will be successful despite difficult NFT market conditions? Let us know in the comments below.