Sorare, an Ethereum NFT game, has been granted the official Major League Soccer license. Sorare is also looking at other sports with more league announcements in the future.
Ethereum fantasy football game Sorare has been one of the most well-known sports FFT projects and has attracted more than 200 clubs to its side. Sorare signed an agreement to bring the Major League Soccer license into the sport amid the growing market.
The Major League Soccer Players Association had previously signed an independent partnership with Sorare. The deal was announced in June 2020 and allowed all players to play as tradable NFT card, although there was no league branding.
Major League Soccer has signed a multi-year agreement with Sorare. This will allow the league to have unified MLS branding. Sorare and the league will also collaborate on marketing activation opportunities and the launch of Sorare NFTs MLS-branded this spring.
Michael Meltzer from Sorare, the company’s head for business development, said that Sorare will be adding Major League Soccer to its game in order to increase its U.S. presence. Sorare’s current focus is on major soccer teams in Europe. However, the company has recently opened a U.S. branch to explore other sports NFT opportunities.
Meltzer stated that “We’re looking for eventually expanding outside of soccer into other sport,” and that MLS was “a really interesting bridge between our global product and the U.S market.”
Major League Soccer introduced its first NFT collectibles on May 20, 21 with four pieces of street art that were tied to specific matches.
Chris Schlosser, MLS Senior VP for Emerging Ventures, stated to Decrypt, that the Sorare alliance allows the league to tap into its young tech-savvy audience through an interactive, NFT-driven sport. He believes that Sorare’s addition to MLS will mirror the league’s gradual expansion into international soccer.
Schlosser stated that “we have the youngest fans” in American pro-sports. “Our fans are the most likely already to have crypto or NFTs and to be at the forefront of technology,” Schlosser said.
Very rare, everywhere
Sorare adds an NFT twist to fantasy sports. Players collect digital trading cards from their favorite players across different leagues and place them in weekly fantasy lineups. Users earn points each week based on the performance of their fantasy players. In Sorare, this can lead to free NFTs and cryptocurrency rewards.
An Ethereum NFT is used to represent each premium Sorare trading cards. An NFT is a deed to ownership of a digital item. It can be a profile picture, a premium Sorare trading card or a video-based collectible. A single Sorare NFT that was based on Erling Haaland was sold in January for more than 265 ETH or more than $678,000, which is a record for the project.
Sorare cards are able to be used in fantasy sports games, unlike NBA Top Shot or NFL All Day FFT collectibles. The company is ambitious, having raised $680million last September at an $4.3 billion valuation to expand into new markets, leagues, and sports, including women’s soccer leagues.
Meltzer did not go into detail about Sorare’s plans for the States but stated that the company aims to “also grow into two U.S. Leagues”. This could be announced in coming months.
Sorare is currently in first place for Major League Soccer. Schlosser stated that he is excited about the potential of NFTs to bridge that gap between digital fandoms and the physical experience of attending MLS matches. He believes there is still plenty to be done in sports, which is one of the most important markets for NFTs.
Schlosser said, “The connection between digital experience and real world experience, I think, is fascinating.” You can see the many uses that blockchain has over time. Blockchain and sports are just beginning to hit the ground.
