The potential of the NFT space is still unexplored, but we are slowly progressing to the full digitalization of real-world events such as sports. It is not new to see sports teams participate in Blockchain and NFT technology projects. We have NBA Top Shot which is an NFT project with the use of digital players cards as a form of collectibles, and many more examples from different sports.
However, the use of NFTs in soccer is fairly new, as you can see in the collector’s world of Wizardia. In fact, FC Porto became the first European soccer club to enter the Metaverse with Upland Agreement.
Many benefits can come with soccer clubs entering the NFT and Crypto space, where they can earn a lot of money by selling digital collectibles with their rights.
In this case, FC Porto and the agreement with Upland can bring multiple benefits for the team. With their move to enter the Metaverse and NFT space, they will be the first team to build their own Virtual Stadium, which in the future can host games virtually, and became the first team to create Collectible Team and Player NFTs.
With their Upland agreement, they secured a few NFT properties mapped to their real-world addresses, that fans can purchase. On top of that, the team will build their digital Dragon Stadium, and launch the first suite of NFTs for European football clubs.
The thing that is unique for Upland is that fans can collect common and rare NFTs via fun and engaging game mechanics. Additionally, FC Porto can offer their digital collectibles for people to purchase in a specific shop located on their virtual properties across the metaverse.
This means that the Portuguese champions FC Porto, who just signed a player for 20 million euros this Tuesday, is all in on digitalization and wants to prepare for the future of the Metaverse.
Considering the size of this project, it will take a while until FC Porto is fully digitalized on the Blockchain and Metaverse, and the project will start the 2022/23 season.
NFTs in Soccer
Even though soccer is the biggest sport in the world in terms of fans, it still falls short compared to other sports when it comes to the use of NFT technology. There aren’t many teams that are preparing for the future by digitalizing, but this trend is about to change, especially after a big club like FC Porto enters the Metaverse.
The NFT industry is present in the world of soccer but not using its full potential. Individual clubs are running private projects and releasing their own NFT collectibles. Such examples are Manchester City, which became the first Premier League club to launch a range of NFTs last year, as well as Barcelona, which surprisingly was short-lived and didn’t get much attention from the public.
The NFT technology and the entire preparation for the Web 3.0 and Metaverse can bring many benefits to soccer clubs in the future. Apart from selling their NFTs and digital collectibles, soccer teams can find many unique ways to interact with fans such as offering unique NFTs with every ticket on their match, hosting virtual matches on the Metaverse, and finally tokenizing their real-world collectibles.
Can you imagine if Real Madrid tokenizes some of their Champion League trophies, where people can purchase a small portion of ownership in the actual real-world Champions League trophy? It would be awesome!
With that said, it is great to see soccer clubs like FC Porto that are starting to move forward with this latest trend and we expect more people to enter this fast-moving train towards full digitalization.
However, it will take some time until soccer clubs enter the Metaverse and fully adapt to Blockchain technology. We are just here to witness the time of a change in how people interact with their favorite teams allowing them to establish a much deeper connection than just owning a jersey.
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