By Frank Dalleres
The Premier League has taken its first step into the NFT market by agreeing a deal with fantasy gaming and digital collectible platform Sorare.
After more than a year of deliberations, English football’s top division has signed a four-year contract worth around £30m annually which includes an option to take equity in the French company.
It allows Sorare to mint and sell digital trading cards of Premier League players, which can be used in online fantasy football games and traded.
A one-off card of Erling Haaland, now of Manchester City, fetched more than £500,000 in cryptocurrency when traded last year.
The Premier League’s deal with Sorare does not include NFTs of video clips similar to the NBA’s popular Top Shot collection, meaning the league will likely strike a separate deal in that space.
“The way that supporters follow their favourite teams and players is evolving and the Premier League is always looking for ways to engage with fans,” said its chief executive Richard Masters.
“Sorare’s digital cards and innovative online game represent a new way for them to feel closer to the Premier League whether they are watching in the stadium or from around the world.
“We believe that Sorare are the ideal partner for the Premier League and we look forward to working closely together.”
Sorare will launch its Premier League cards today, with 1,111 available at auction for each player in the Premier League. The cheapest have a reserve price of £1, rising to £1,000 for NFTs of unique cards, but typically fetch more.
The company, which also has licences with Spain’s LaLiga, NBA basketball and Major League Baseball, also offers a free version of its fantasy game, which it says is used by 87 per cent of its 3m customers.
It has enhanced this free offering for its Premier League version after the UK Gambling Commission began enquiries into the platform in October 2021. The Commission told City A.M. it had no further update yet.
“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,” said Nicolas Julia, CEO and co-founder of Sorare, who had long targeted this deal.
“As football fans ourselves, this partnership is something we’ve dreamt of since we founded the business. It’s a major milestone for us as we pursue our goal to build a compelling global sports community for fans and we’re extremely proud to have now partnered with three of the biggest sports leagues in the world: the Premier League, NBA and MLB.
“We’re incredibly excited and can’t wait to see fans play with Premier League cards in our tournaments.”
Julia said sales increased from $271m to $520m last year at Sorare, who count athlete investors Serena Williams, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Zinedine Zidane and Rio Ferdinand among their shareholders.
The £30m figure is an estimate based on a guaranteed minimum payment plus the anticipated royalties once Sorare has recouped a minimum amount.
Sorare already had a deal with Liverpool FC but now has a licence that covers all 20 teams in the division.
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