MLB Sorare collaborates to develop NFT games
Sports teams and leagues are looking for different ways to engage and connect with new audiences to attract younger people and improve engagement among sports enthusiasts.
Major League Baseball is following a similar path and announced its partnership with an NFT gaming company, Sorare, to launch an NFT-based fantasy game this summer.
Sorare will be the official NFT baseball gaming partner of MLB and will lend fans a platform to play fantasy games while buying, selling and collecting NFTs from MLB players. Its USP is that it is not going to be a draft game. Teams will be formed from the NFT cards that a specific fan owns.
Rob Manfred, the MLB commissioner, said in a statement that the connection with their fans is important to them and we understand the importance of that bond. The focus of the company is to transform fandom using an innovative combination of technology, sports and games, so that fans can truly own the game they are passionate about and also reach a wider audience.
Details of the games, prices and prizes have not been revealed yet, but similar games Sorare has previously built such games for soccer leagues including Major League Soccer, Bundesliga and Copa America that consist of various prizes for fans who collect NFTs.
1.8 million registered users on Sorare’s platform, around 184 countries, served as part of the appeal to MLB. It opened the way to connect with an audience that baseball reached earlier.
Since 2007, MLB has seen an annual decline in average attendance, when it experienced 79.4 million fans reduced to just 68.5 million in 2019. Since 2020, due to COVID-19, there is an impact on attendance, so these numbers are not included in any data.
Sorare has witnessed a 32% month-on-month increase in active user growth and collected over $325 million in sales in 2021 with hopes of doubling that this year.
Partnerships with 247 soccer clubs contribute to part of the success and will now be expanded with the addition of MLB teams.
Major League Baseball Players Association CEO Tony Clark revealed that Sorare has developed a new baseball gaming experience that will create excitement among fans by collecting players’ NFTs, “building winning lineups and competing against baseball fans around the world.”
