NFT fantasy football (soccer) game Sorare announced a partnership with Major League Soccer (the MLS) today. The deal will see Sorare become the official NFT fantasy game of the premier North American soccer league.
MLS x Sorare partnership will see NFTs of all MLS players
Sorare announced that the deal with the fastest-growing sports league in North America is for several years. A press release on the deal notes that this is the latest example of the MLS’ commitment to providing fans with experiences across platforms.
Notably, the MLS also has one of the youngest and most tech-savvy fanbases among North American sports leagues. Thus, the deal with Sorare means that for the first time, MLS fans will be able to collect and trade NFTs of their favorite players. The NFT collection will launch in the Spring of 2022.
Chris Schlosser, Major League Soccer’s SVP of Emerging Ventures said of the partnership:
“We’re excited to continue our progressive approach to bring NFTs to MLS with industry-leader Sorare.” He added, “Utilizing the latest technology to provide fans the opportunity to add MLS players and future stars to their personal collections and give them an interactive free-to-play fantasy soccer game made Sorare the obvious choice.”
Sorare breaks into the U.S. market
To be sure, Sorare is one of the biggest names in NFTs when it comes to attracting a mainstream audience. The NFT game combines NFTs and fantasy sports with the world’s most popular game.
To sum up, Sorare is a fantasy soccer game that allows players to purchase, sell and trade NFT player cards. Then, NFT owners create weekly lineups using their NFTs. Finally, they score points depending on how their players perform in real-life soccer games.
By partnering with the MLS, Sorare is completing its first deal in the United States. In fact, Sorare actually opened its U.S. office at the end of 2021. This move adds will add the 28 MLS teams to the 228 clubs from across the world that Sorare already has official licenses with.
Sorare COO Ryan Spoon said of the partnership:
“We’re excited to welcome Major League Soccer to our Sorare family. Our global community of sports fans are eager to start collecting and playing with their favorite teams and players from the league.”
The move also brings to mind the biggest NFT project partnership with an American sports league. Specifically, Dapper Labs and the NBA’s NBA Top Shot. As a matter of fact, Top Shot is one of the projects that receive a lot of credit for kickstarting the growing NFT craze of the past 18 months.
In contrast to Top Shot, which sees fans collecting and trading game highlights, Sorare encourages more active engagement from fans due to its fantasy game aspect. To that end, Spoon talks about the NFT fantasy model.
“From collectors to first-time NFT buyers, our NFT x Fantasy model uniquely engages fans with the sport they love in a way that goes beyond just spectating, and makes them feel truly connected to each team, player and game.”
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