English soccer team Liverpool Football Club (Liverpool FC) is deepening its partnership with French company Sorare, which operates player-owned fantasy sports games that issue virtual collectible cards as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The expanded partnership will see Liverpool FC and Sorare collaborate on “multimedia fan content and release new unique experiences for Reds fans and Sorare’s managers,” according to a Thursday (Sept. 22) press release.
“At Liverpool Football Club, we’re always striving to pioneer new technologies for our supporters, with the aim of enhancing their fan experience and making them feel as connected as possible to this club,” said Liverpool FC Commercial Director Ben Latty in the release.
Liverpool FC and Sorare first teamed up last year, launching digital cards of first-team players on Sorare’s platform, the release stated.
The partnership expansion is the latest in a series of milestones for Sorare, which now has over 2 million users worldwide and more than 280 partnering sports organizations, including La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Major League Baseball, per the release.
The average sale price of a Sorare NFT in August was $86.14, down from a peak of around $280 in March last year, Reuters reported Thursday.
NFT trading cards have proven popular among basketball fans, too, and the NBA has launched its own virtual collectibles that evolve in line with players’ performance as the season progresses.
Read more: NBA’s Latest NFT Trading Cards Evolve With Players’ Playoff Stats
The news comes one year after Sorare raised $680 million in a Series B funding round, bringing its valuation to $4.3 billion.
See more: Soccer NTF Trading Platform Sorare Nets $680M
Venture capital (VC) investment in French startups doubled in 2021, from 5.1 billion euros (about $5 billion) to over 10 billion euros (about $9.8 billion). Sorare’s Series B was the top French VC fundraise.
Read more: VC Investment in French Startups Doubles in 2021 to Hit $11.3B Despite Funding Gap Between Regions
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