Blockchain-based fantasy soccer game Sorare has signed a licensing agreement with Italian Serie A football team S.S. Lazio.
According to an announcement on March 17, the partnership will see official Lazio collectibles launched on the Ethereum blockchain.
Unique Sorore cards have sold for more than $1,000
Sorare creates limited edition tokenized representations of soccer stars on the Ethereum blockchain. Cards can be traded on secondary markets or used in Sorare’s game.
In the game, fantasy football managers compose teams of five player cards to compete for rewards. Sorore’s managers are ranked based on the performance of their chosen players, and compete for weekly prizes including up to 2.63 Ether (ETH).
With each season, the platform will launch a single “unique” player card, 10 “super rare” player cards, and 100 “rare” player cards.
Unique player cards have been traded for prices exceeding $1,000 in the past. For example, a unique card representing French footballer Moussa Dembélé was auctioned for $1,126.27 in January.
Sorare will host weekly tournaments in which soccer fans worldwide can compete to win blockchain-based prizes.
The partnership follows similar deals between Sorare and professional soccer clubs Juventus, Schalke, Atletico Madrid and Porto.
Lazio was founded in 1900 and won the Italian championship in 1974 and 2000, and the Union of European Football Associations’ Super Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup in 1999.
Tokenized items gain momentum in the gaming sector
An increasing number of game developers are exploring blockchain-based in-game items as a way to give greater ownership and autonomy to players.
Earlier this month, the FarmVille creator announced that his new company Blockchain Game Partners is developing the Gala Network — a blockchain-based gaming platform that will support tokenized in-game items that can be traded or used for gameplay.
On March 7, Horizon Blockchain Games announced it had raised $5 million ahead of the launch of its first blockchain-based card game, SkyWeaver.
Last month, CryptoKitties creators Dapper Labs announced that they had inked a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to create blockchain-based collectibles comprising tokenized representation of mixed martial arts fighters supported by a game.