NFT Fantasy Sports brand Sorare has partnered with the English Premier League to release player NFTs. The major announcement will see the Paris-based Web3 company launch official playing cards of all 20 English Premier League clubs into its NFT collection.
In addition to introducing Premier League NFTs, Sorare also announced several updates to its gameplay. This includes only being able to play against players using cards from the same league.
To further the challenge, Sorare also launched capped-mode tournaments that limit high-value players in each competition. With these newly implemented features, it’s expected that game players will experience greater challenges when playing within their preferred league.
Sorare’s partnerships with European Football Leagues along with the NBA, MLB & MLS
The Premier League is the biggest football league in the world and is a huge addition to Sorare’s partnerships with the French, German, Spanish, and Italian leagues. Add that to the deals signed with American NBA, MLB and MLS leagues, and it becomes clear that Sorare offers unparalleled digital experiences for sports fans across the globe.
Image Credit: Sorare
NFT prices and trading activity dropped in 2022
During the crypto winter, Non-fungible tokens took a massive hit in value. Data from CryptoSlam shows NFT prices average out at $143.22 as of December 2022. This is down significantly from the previous year when prices stood at $383.73.
Trading activity has also experienced a drastic drop. All NFT sales dropped by 78%, from $3.1 billion to only $678.2 million. In the same time frame, Sorare bucked the downward trend, with total card exchanges of around $500 million last year – an increase from 2021’s numbers of approximately 270 million.
Sorare surpasses 3 million users assisted by Messi and Mbappé
Last week, Sorare surpassed 3 million users. Much of this user growth comes from the FIFA World Cup played in November and December in Qatar. During the four-week tournament, Sorare gained an impressive 600,000 users on its fantasy platform.
This growth was helped by 2 of Sorare’s ambassadors, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, reaching the World Cup Final. The former established his name as the best ever by lifting the famous golden trophy for his native Argentina.
Sorare becoming a Major Player in the Global Sports Market
Sorare continues to grow, even during the crypto winter downturn. Boasting partnerships with all of the best European football leagues, the brand is becoming a major player in the sports gaming industry and in Web3.
Also, with a growing fan base now in the US, where the popularity of football is growing thanks to teams like Manchester United, Liverpool and Leeds United, it’s clear Sorare is on track to crack the world’s biggest market.
Football cards are the perfect utility for NFTs, and with all the major leagues coming on board, Sorare might just become the EA Sports and Panini of Web3.
