Blockchain-powered fantasy sports company Sorare has inked a deal with the English Premier League to mint Ethereum-based digital player cards on its platform.
Sorare has led an interesting use case for Ethereum-based fantasy sports and digital card trading in recent years, providing fans with the ability to mint, collect and trade cards of various players with other users via a variety of non-fungible token (NFT) markets.
Cointelegraph reached out to Surari to clarify the details of their latest deal, which has brought the Premier League more accessible to soccer fans. While the partnership was officially announced on January 30, a spokesperson for Sorare said that discussions between the league and the company had been going on for a long time.
Premier League player cards are available on the Sorare platform, with some “ultra rare” cards already valued at over $100 or more.
Sorare began making moves within the Premier League network in 2019, signing West Ham United as his first English club as his platform partner. Cointelegraph has learned that the League and Surari have agreed to a four-year deal, with the value of the partnership not being disclosed for contractual reasons.
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A company spokesperson also broke down the structure of the deal, with Sorare making an upfront payment to the league for the licensing rights. From there, digital card sales split the ratio between Sorare and the Premier League.
Sorare is making digital cards for Premier League players on the Ethereum blockchain. The platform has long used the ERC-721 token standard for its NFT player cards, which fans can collect, trade and use to play on the platform’s free fantasy game league.
Premier League digital cards will be available for initial purchase on Sorare before they are available for trading on compatible marketplaces such as OpenSea. The fantasy sports platform is still in favor of connecting fans, players, and organizations with blockchain technology:
“For Sorare, this core technology is the means, not the ends, to connect users to their favorite clubs, and we welcome it to power the next generation of sports and entertainment fans.”
NFTs, including digital trading cards and highlights of various sports tokens, have become popular collectibles in recent years. NBA Top Shots exploded in popularity in 2021, while the soccer world continued to see synergies with blockchain-based platforms.
