Premier League Signs NFT-Based Fantasy Soccer Game Sorare

Solare, a $4.3 billion fantasy soccer game, has signed a multi-year deal with the Premier League and will feature official player cards licensed by the world’s top soccer leagues.

Game players can purchase and use official Premier League licensed NFTs under an exclusive multi-year agreement.

With 3 million users worldwide, Paris-based startup Sorare lets people compete in a 5-on-5 fantasy soccer game. Chances of success are based on real-time performance of players on the pitch.

Sorare also said it will launch two new features in-game. These include the ability to compete with league-specific player cards and a “Financial Fair Play” feature that prevents users from selecting an All-Star team.

Solare were first rumored to be in talks with the Premier League, England’s top men’s football league, for a licensing deal for October 2022. His existing NFT licensing agreements with other companies.

Sky News previously reported that the deal was worth £30m. Julia declined to share details about the financial terms and duration of the transaction.

The news comes despite a sharp drop in NFT trading activity.

The value of NFTs (or non-fungible tokens) has plummeted amid crypto price declines known as “crypto winter,” exacerbated in recent months by the bankruptcy of major exchange FTX. doing.

According to data site CryptoSlam, the average selling price of NFTs in December 2022 was $143.22, down 63% from $383.73 in December 2021.

Trading volume has also decreased significantly. His NFT overall sales in December dropped 78% to $678.2 million from his $3.1 billion a year ago.

Julia says that Sorare “tends to be very different from other spaces.” Last year, he reached $500 million in total card exchanges on the platform, nearly doubling from $270 million in 2021.

Still, the company has noticed a shift in usage among players who tend to use “play for free” modes that don’t have to compete with paid cards.

According to Julia, about 87% of Sorare players “don’t even spend money on the platform.”

This raised obvious questions about the sustainability of Sorare’s model. How do you make money when most users aren’t trading?

Julia said big spending power users are enough to secure an income stream. Sora takes an unspecified cut of all transactions through its services.

It is worth noting that Sorare is the third largest NFT collection in the world, according to CryptoSlam data. The company processes about $1 million in transactions every 24 hours, according to CryptoSlam figures.

The Premier League partnership with Solare adds to the numerous deals between sports leagues and cryptocurrency platforms.

Solare itself has previously announced deals with Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association.

Some agreements, such as Crypto.com’s deal for naming rights to Los Angeles’ Staples Center arena and FTX’s now defunct sponsorship of the Miami-Dade arena, have soured amid a plunge in cryptocurrency prices. increase.

Giulia said his company’s focus on licensing intellectual property rather than sponsorships has shielded Solare from the fallout of crypto-focused sports advertising.

The French startup was valued at $4.3 billion in September 2021 by investors. Softbank Venture capital firms Accel and Benchmark. It also counts sports stars Lionel Messi, Serena Williams and Kylian Mbappe as shareholders.

It is not without controversy and has been accused of promoting gambling.

According to a notice dated 8 October 2021, the UK Gambling Commission has asked the company to “see if Sorare.com requires a license to operate or if the services it offers do not constitute gambling”. are investigating.

Julia said she could not yet provide an update on the process of the UK investigation.

In November, the startup committed to making some changes to its platform after action by the French National Gaming Authority. The company has until March 31st to implement these measures.

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