Premier League Ignores Crypto Chaos, Backs Sorare's NFT Fantasy Football Game in a Bold Move

cryptonews.com:

Non-fungible token (NFT)-based fantasy game and marketplace Sorare: Football has partnered with the Premier League in a multi-year licensing deal - crypto drama or not.

Fans can build custom teams to win "big rewards" as if they were professional club owners, said the announcement.

It explained that,

"Football fans around the world can now collect, buy, sell, and trade officially licensed digital cards featuring every player from across the Premier League’s 20 clubs."

As for how long the deal has been signed, the Financial Times reported that it is a four-year licensing contract. People familiar with the matter said that "Sorare will pay the Premier League tens of millions of pounds a year to secure the rights," while the final payment for each year will depend on performance.

"Under the deal, the Premier League also has an option to take an equity stake in Sorare," it said. 

Sorare, which is backed by players such as Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi, has partnered with over 300 football clubs and teams around the world, including Europe’s top leagues, so Sorare Managers can play with Premier League stars of their choice in either Premier League or global competitions, said the marketplace. 

Notably, the partnership came at a time of great turmoil for the crypto industry. The prices of major cryptoassets have certainly gone up in January - for example, bitcoin (BTC) appreciated nearly 39% in 30 days - but various other issues and worries still remain. And these are caused by the now-long string of failures of crypto companies and projects. 

Last year had seen Terra, Three Arrows Capital, and Celsius Network go down, to name just three of many, followed by the massive and infamous collapse of the FTX exchange - all of which is