Liverpool expands collaboration with NFT fantasy sports start-up Sorare
FILE PHOTO: Soccer – Premier League – Liverpool v Newcastle United – Anfield, Liverpool, Britain – August 31, 2022 A Liverpool flag is pictured before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble
LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Liverpool football club is deepening its ties with the crypto world by expanding a partnership with French blockchain-based sports startup Sorare, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
Sorare, whose online fantasy sports game involves selling licensed digital sports cards that players can use to build teams that compete against each other, said it had an exclusive multi-year partnership with Liverpool to create content and experiences for fans.
The cards for the game are bought and traded in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT), a type of crypto-asset that records the ownership status of digital goods on the blockchain. read more
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A 2021 deal saw Liverpool cards introduced on the platform and the new deal will see benefits such as Liverpool stadium visits, matchday experiences, merchandise and video content offered as prizes to winners of the online game, Sorare said.
Sports-related collectibles proved a popular type of NFT when the digital asset market exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry last year, although the frenzy has cooled in recent months. read more
The average sale price of a Sorare NFT in August was $86.14, down from a peak of around $280 last March, according to market tracker CryptoSlam.
The UK’s gambling watchdog is investigating Sorare to assess whether their game constitutes gambling. A spokesperson for Sorare said this was “not relevant” to the partnership with Liverpool. read more
“Sorare remains very adamant that it does not offer any forms of gambling and this has been confirmed by legal expert opinions at all stages since the company was founded, including when signing new partnerships,” the spokesperson said.
Sorare says it has over 2 million users worldwide and partners with more than 280 million sports organizations, including Major League Baseball in the US and UK soccer clubs. read more
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Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
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