It’s official! Manchester United has chosen Tezos as its blockchain partner and sponsor. As a matter of fact, it leaked last week that Tezos would be the new training kit sponsor for the historic football club. Now today, Manchester United has made an announcement confirming the rumors. What’s more, the multi-year partnership will also see Tezos powering some brand new fan experiences.
Manchester United looks to Tezos and the blockchain for the future of fan engagement
As noted above, it first leaked last week that Tezos would become the official sponsor for Manchester United’s training kits. Now the legendary English football club has stamped that announcement. To that end, the Tezos training kits will debut this Saturday, Feb. 12, when Manchester United takes on Southampton in a Premier League fixture.
Besides the kit sponsorship, the deal has some other exciting prospects. For one thing, it means that Manchester United will be looking to build out fan experiences on Tezos. While Manchester United hasn’t yet gone into specifics, it’s easy to imagine things like NFT tickets and collectibles, virtual events, and other Web3 and blockchain-powered methods of fan engagement.
Another key point is that, as part of the deal, Tezos is pledging to make ongoing donations to the Manchester United Foundation. Notably, it will make these donations in Tez (XTZ), the native currency of the Tezos blockchain.
To be sure, this move speaks to Manchester United’s forward-thinking vision when it comes to blockchain technology. Indeed, Manchester United’s CEO of Alliances and Partnerships Victoria Timpson said: “This [partnership] aligns us with one of the most advanced, reliable and sustainable blockchains in an area of technology which promises to truly revolutionize the way that everyone, including the Club and our fans, can interact.”
Football clubs continue to march on into Web3
Perhaps the most important thing that Manchester United highlights about its newest partner, is its sustainability. This reasoning is certainly something we have seen from a number of different brands, companies, and projects who have also chosen that blockchain over others.
That is to say, the lower carbon footprint that comes with Tezos’ proof-of-stake blockchain is a major selling point for people wanting to build using blockchain technology while avoiding some of the major environmental issues with the biggest NFT and smart contract chain, Ethereum.
Without a doubt, global football clubs have been taking note of the rapid growth of the NFT and Web3 space. Certainly, Manchester United partnering with Tezos is unique, in that there aren’t many sports franchises with an official blockchain partner. Even so, Manchester United is not the first club to announce a major Web3 partnership.
For example, Sorare is probably the best-known name when it comes to the football and Web3 crossover. To explain, Sorare is a fantasy football game on Ethereum that has many official partnerships with some of the biggest football clubs in the world. Then there’s also Socios, a web-based app that focuses on fan rewards and engagement.
All in all, this is a huge move for both parties involved. On the one hand, it provides Manchester United with a firm entry into the Web3 space. At the same time, it gives Tezos yet another major partnership to further the growth of its blockchain.
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