The deal means that the football league may purchase shares in Sorare in the future, despite ongoing gambling investigations into the company.
After a lengthy negotiation process, blockchain-based fantasy sports game Sorare has announced a new four-year license arrangement with the UK’s Premier League.
As part of the agreement, the Premier League received equity warrants that will allow it to purchase a stake in the firm in the future.
Obtaining the world’s most-watched football league is a significant achievement for the firm. It has now teamed with three of the world’s largest sports organizations, including America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB).
Sorare will be able to manufacture digital, NFT-based cards of football players from all 20 Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United, under the new license agreement.
In addition, Sorare will provide new elements such as league-specific competitions, draft-based gaming, and capped-mode competitions.
Although the actual cost of the sale to Sorare has not been published, sources previously told Sky News that Sorare might pay up to £30 million per year for the privilege.
In a recent media interview, Sorare CEO Nicholas Julia expressed confidence that the license would be renewed beyond the existing four-year term.
What does Sorare do?
Sorare is a fantasy sports game in which users may acquire and exchange NFTs of real-life sports players. Users, known as “managers,” create teams out of these player cards and then play them in fantasy sports contests.
Team success is determined by players’ real-world performance, and the awards available span the actual and digital worlds, ranging from in-person visits to training grounds to cryptocurrency prize pools.
The startup now claims 3 million registered members, up from 2 million in early 2022, and 650k monthly active users as of December 2022. The United States is its fastest-growing market, with consumers increasing sixfold between 2021 and 2022.
According to Julia, users’ “cards” working as NFTs means that if the Premier League arrangement is not extended beyond the current four years, users will still own and be able to use their player cards.
If this agreement were to expire, the company would stop producing new cards, which would likely increase its secondary market value.