Sorare launches beta for NFT-based NBA fantasy sports game

Sorare is launching the beta for its NFT-based NBA fantasy basketball game played with digital trading cards.

The Sorare: NBA Beta game is a major addition to Sorare’s lineup, which also includes a Sorare: Major League Baseball and soccer game, Sorare: Football. Players can collect free cards or buy NFTs, or non-fungible tokens.

Fans will create and manage teams with NFTs representing NBA players. Then they can participate in tournaments and see the results based on how the players are doing in the real world. Players can start with free cards, but they have the option to pay for NFT (non-fungible token) cards. They can continue to play with these cards and earn rewards or resell them on the marketplace for real money.

The game uses blockchain technology based on Ethereum and was first developed in 2018 by Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort in Paris. The partnerships with the NBA, MLB and several soccer leagues are why Sorare was able to raise $680 million at a $4.3 billion valuation in a deal with SoftBank last year.

“This is our third sport, along with soccer and MLB. And we are very excited about this sport, since securing the NBA was one of the main goals of the company from the day I joined a year ago, Michael Meltzer, head of business development at Sorare, said in an interview with GamesBeat. “Just given the star power of NBA players, it fits with the global nature of our product and the international community that we have in over 185 countries.”

How to play

Like Sorare: MLB, Sorare: NBA has 5000 limited cards, 1000 rares, 100 super rares and 1 unique. Players will fill rosters and play as either Contender or Champion. Both competitions operate within a point limit and require a five-player lineup. Each player card has a point value associated with it called the ten game average. This average of ten games is what counts towards the total point ceiling in a competition. The scoring helps make the game fair for players.

“It’s there to create justice,” Meltzer said.

The difference between Champion and Contender contests is that Champion contests have an MVP. Managers will be able to select one player from their five positions to designate as their “MVP”. MVP points do not count towards the limit for Champion competitions.

“We’ve had a ton of respect for the NBA players who have been at the forefront of innovation and technology for years,” he said. “We see NFTs as an underlying technology, not a market. So we think there are a lot of different unique use cases and applications. Our fantasy sports entertainment product leverages blockchain to bring ownership to the game. And we think it’s completely different than anything that’s been on the market, especially with the NBA, whether it’s in Web three or elsewhere.”

Managers can only use a card once per game week and can only use each player once in the same lineup – even if you have two of their cards. Players can participate in competitions a couple of times a week: Monday to Thursday and Friday to Sunday.

The competition starts 10 minutes before the first match in that window. Today, Common Contender and Common Champion contests are available. This gives fans time to build their card collections ahead of other competitive formats.

Sorare will continue to release more contests that allow you to play with your newly purchased Limited, Rare, Super Rare and Unique cards in the weeks following the initial launch.

Each Sorare: NBA Contest offers rewards in the form of new player cards – making every game week an opportunity to play and grow your collection.

Each competition offers the opportunity to win a reward, but the quality of that reward changes based on the competition and based on your team’s performance: the higher your score, the stronger the player you will win as a reward.

Like all Sorare products, a meaningful percentage of the card population is reserved for game rewards. As you play each Game Week, you have the opportunity to win cards and strengthen your team. And our goal for the first season is to reserve up to 40% of our released cards as player rewards.

Sorare said it plans to add a lot of surprise to the reward experiences in both the Contender and Champion competitions. The company will set up special weekly contests throughout the season to offer rewards like jerseys and tickets and other experiences, bridging the gap between fantasy and reality.

New card auctions on Sorare: NBA are no different than auctions on Sorare: Football or Sorare: MLB. New card auctions start at a minimum price, have an expiration date and time, and are awarded to the highest bidder. A higher volume of lower scarcity cards will be sold each day, but players can expect to see each scarcity live in the marketplace each day. The auctions end every few seconds to ensure regular supply and constant action.

Sorare’s Milestones

To date, Sorare has more than two million users in 185 countries. Sorare has established partnerships with 300 global football leagues and clubs so far. The company generated more than $325 million in sales in 2021 – a growth of +3885% annually compared to 2020. Total card transactions in the first half of 2022 grew more than seven times compared to a year earlier. Over the past six months, Sorare has experienced +250% trading volume. It happened in the middle of the NFT price crash.

Since launching in July, MLB has had 275,000 registrations, including 35,000 in the week of September 22. The MLB game has had more than $6 million in sales volume. About 85% of MLB players are from outside the US

Sorare has 130 employees and offices in both Paris and New York.

Meltzer said the company’s products aren’t necessarily aimed at crypto enthusiasts.
“Sorare is a sports and entertainment gaming product that leverages blockchain,” he said. “It has all the benefits that come with blockchain, like scarcity, authenticity and portability. But at the core, we’re really just building another entertainment game.”

Players can buy cards via credit card without knowing they have a crypto asset.