Liverpool extends NFT partnership with Sorare
English football team Liverpool Football Club (Liverpool FC) is deepening its partnership with French company Sorare, which operates player-owned fantasy sports games that issue virtual trading cards as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The expanded partnership will see Liverpool FC and Sorare collaborate on “multimedia fan content and unlock new unique experiences for Reds fans and Sorare’s managers,” according to a press release on Thursday (September 22).
“At Liverpool Football Club we are always striving to pioneer new technology for our supporters, with the aim of enhancing their fan experience and making them feel as connected as possible to this club,” Liverpool FC Commercial Director Ben Latty said in the press release. .
Liverpool FC and Sorare first teamed up last year, launching digital cards from first-team players on Sorare’s platform, the release states.
The partnership expansion is the latest in a series of milestones for Sorare, which now has over 2 million users worldwide and more than 280 partner sports organizations, including La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Major League Baseball, according to the release.
The average selling price of a Sorare NFT in August was $86.14, down from a peak of around $280 in March last year, Reuters reported on Thursday.
NFT trading cards have also proven popular with basketball fans, and the NBA has launched its own virtual collectibles that evolve with players’ performances as the season progresses.
Read more: The NBA’s latest NFT trading card evolves with players’ playoff stats
The news comes a year after Sorare raised $680 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its valuation to $4.3 billion.
See more: Soccer NTF Trading Platform Sorare Nets $680M
Venture capital (VC) investments in French startups doubled in 2021, from 5.1 billion euros (about $5 billion) to over 10 billion euros (about $9.8 billion). Sorare’s Series B was the best French VC fundraise.
Read more: VC investment in French startups doubles in 2021 to reach $11.3 billion despite funding gap between regions
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