The Argentine, who plays forward for French club Paris Saint-Germain, will assist Sorare in setting new standards in how fans communicate with clubs and players, the firm said in a statement Wednesday. They’ll also collaborate to produce new content and fan experiences, according to Sorare.
Messi has taken an ownership position in Sorer as part of the arrangement, according to the firm, without specifying the value of his investment or other details. Sorare’s CEO and co-founder, Nicolas Julia, called the collaboration with Messi a major milestone for the firm.Sorare enables users to trade digital player cards and organise five-person fantasy soccer teams. Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, are virtual collectibles with a blockchain-tracking ownership record. Sorare claims that this creates digital scarcity for each card.The Paris-based company has over 2 million members in 185 countries and is linked with over 300 sports teams and leagues, including La Liga in Spain and the Bundesliga in Germany. It has expanded beyond its core focus on soccer recently into other sports, including basketball and baseball.The collaboration with Sorare is the latest in a string of prominent agreements between sports stars and cryptocurrency companies. Sorare has already announced partnerships with French soccer sensation Kylian Mbappe and American tennis legend Serena Williams. Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England Patriots, invested in the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which decided to sell to competitor business Binance on Tuesday after encountering a liquidity crisis.As part of his two-year deal with the club, Messi decided to receive a portion of his pay in $PSG fan tokens, a cryptocurrency established by blockchain sports platform Socios for Paris Saint-Germain. The value of the tokens has subsequently dropped 86% since its high in August 2021, when Messi announced the Socios deal, sparking concerns among typical sports fans who are exposed to massive price drops.
