The Barcelona Football Club captain has announced his official start to the non-fun ticket (NFT) industry by investing $ 4.3 million in the Sorare fantasy football platform.
Barcelona Football Club Player Invests in Sorare NFT Fantasy Football Platform, Joins as Strategic Advisor
According to Sifted, Gerard Piqué joined a Cassius Family-led seed extension round of the US that brought a total of $ 8.6 million seed to the platform, allowing consumers to buy and trade digital cards through NFT for ball – professional footballers.
In addition, as per the company’s official announcement, the Barcelona player will join Sorare’s team as a “strategic adviser,” as part of the deal. Board members include cofounders Nicolas Julia and Adrien Montfort, and Christain Miele.
Sorare leverages Ethereum’s blockchain technology to issue digital player cards that can be used to build fantasy football teams or trade them for real money. This year, the company reported that nearly 80 football clubs have joined the platform, including Porto, Zenit, Bayern Munich, Juventus, among others.
Piqué commented on the reasons behind his new business venture:
I see huge potential in the sports games segment in a digital economy where audience attention is the most important unit of money. I look forward to helping Sorare expand their partnerships with football leagues, clubs and players worldwide to build the best fantasy experience that exists.
He also highlighted the need to diversify his portfolio before retiring in the future. He envisions a bright future in this type of business, adding that “if you don’t start doing these things when you’re a player, I think when you leave football there’s a big hole where you don’t know what to do. ”
Digital Football Cards The Future, Says Piqué
Barcelona FC captain talked about his past of trading physical football cards and how times have changed now because of the digital fantasy cards:
I was a fan of football cards since I was a kid. You had to go buy a pack of stickers and collect all the players. As an entrepreneur I think the world of football has to innovate. At the end of the day this is the next step, the next generations will collect these types of digital assets and cards.
Sorare has reported that its sales skyrocketed over 1,000% during 2020. Their projections expect growth in fantasy and sports football cards that could be worth $ 5.4 billion and $ 18.6 billion, respectively.
A survey about non-fun ticket (NFT) trends recently reported by news.Bitcoin.com revealed that 47% of reporters had heard of NFT, and among these, 63% had only a basic understanding, while 57 % of them had never used them.
What do you think about Gerard Piqué’s investment? Let us know in the comments section below.
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