Blockchain-powered fantasy sports company Sorare has sealed a deal with the English Premier League to mint Ethereum-based digital player cards on its platform.
Sorare has driven an interesting use case for Ethereum-based fantasy sports and digital card trading in recent years, offering fans the ability to mint, collect, and trade various player cards with other users in one variety of non-fungible token (NFT) markets.
Cointelegraph reached out to Sorare to clarify the details of their latest deal that brings the Premier League within the reach of soccer fans. While the partnership was officially announced on January 30, a Sorare spokesperson said discussions between the league and the company had been ongoing for a lengthy period.
Sorare began making moves within the Premier League network in 2019, signing West Ham United as his first English club as a partner on his platform. Cointelegraph has learned that the League and Sorare have agreed to a four-year contract, without disclosing the value of the partnership for contractual reasons.
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The company spokesperson also broke down the structure of the deal, with Sorare making an initial payment to the league for licensing fees. From there, digital card sales result in a percentage split between Sorare and the Premier League.
Sorare mints digital cards of 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 and trade and use to play in the platform’s free fantasy sports league.
Digital Premier League cards will be available for initial purchase on Sorare before being available for trading on supported marketplaces such as OpenSea. The fantasy sports platform continues to be an advocate of connecting fans, players, and organizations with blockchain technology:
“For Sorare, this underlying technology is the means, not the end, of connecting users with their favorite clubs, and we welcome it to empower the next generation of sports and entertainment fans.”
NFTs, including digital trading cards and highlights of various sports codes, have become popular collector’s items in recent years. NBA Top Shots exploded in popularity in 2021, while the soccer world has continued to see synergies with blockchain-based platforms.
