Messi Partners with Sorare as Brand Ambassador
Lionel Messi, one of football’s greatest players and seven-time Ballon d’Or Award winner, has officially partnered with Sorare to serve as its brand ambassador and investor. This collaboration is expected to enhance the way fans engage with sports through the innovative use of digital collectibles.
Sorare is a fantasy soccer platform built on the Ethereum blockchain, utilizing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to allow users to collect, buy, and trade digital cards featuring real-life football players. With Messi’s involvement, the platform aims to deepen fan interactions with both players and teams.
Nicolas Julia, co-founder and CEO of Sorare, expressed optimism about the partnership, stating, “We believe Messi will help us set new standards in how we do this, and we look forward to sharing what new content and fan experiences we’ve been collaborating on soon.” Julia emphasized that this collaboration marks a significant milestone for Sorare.
Currently playing for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), Messi noted, “Fans have always looked for ways to express their passion and get closer to the players and teams that they love, and Sorare’s combination of a fantasy game with digital collectibles gives fans new ways to do that, wherever they are in the world.”
Sorare’s format allows users to create their own dream teams and trade NFT-based player cards. With approximately 2 million users across 185 countries, the platform has previously been valued at $4.3 billion. Sorare has formed partnerships with over 300 sports teams and major leagues, including Germany’s Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga.
The platform is expanding its horizons beyond football, recently venturing into sports like baseball and basketball. For example, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has partnered with Sorare to enhance fan engagement, allowing users to create lineups of NFT-based digital collectibles that represent their favorite basketball teams and players.
Sorare aims to promote the adoption of digital assets and blockchain technology in everyday life by offering unique digital tokens within its fantasy framework. Julia commented on the competitive landscape, noting, “There has been a lot of hype around different football projects using non-fungible technology up to now, but the ones that stick around will be those that offer real underlying utility and see non-fungible technology as the means to achieving their goals, not the ends.”
