Fantasy football platform Sorare has added LaLiga to its expanding portfolio of partners, striking a partnership with the Spanish top-flight surrounding the leveraging of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

As a result of the agreement, Sorare will launch a range of NFTs for LaLiga players, as the league looks to find alternative streams of revenue via a new licence category. 

LaLiga followers, in addition to NFT collectors and fantasy football players, will be able to freely trade and play using digital cards of the league’s players, with Sorare stating its mission to create ‘the game within the game’.

At LaLiga we are always looking for innovative ways to offer our fans new and exciting experiences and to broaden the appeal of our competition, the greatest in the world,” said Javier Tebas, President of LaLiga.

“This partnership with Sorare, the most exciting sports NFT projects today, enables us to reach new audiences globally and gives existing fans additional ways they can get involved with the players and the clubs they love.”

Commenting at a press conference to mark the event, LaLiga revealed the revenue generated from the sale of NFTs via Sorare’s platform will be distributed among the league’s clubs.

Additionally, the league noted that a major reason for its choice of Sorare as an NFT partner was that many of its players had already made investments in the company, whilst also noting that the platform had an ‘interactive’ nature as a fantasy football provider as well as a marketplace.

The partnership represents the debut of both the first division LaLiga Santander and second division LaLiga Smartbank in the NFT space, as the sector records revenue of over $130 million in cards this year.

For Sorare, the deal marks another expansion of its client portfolio, building on existing agreements with Spanish clubs such as Atlético Madrid, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, FC Sevilla, Valencia FC and Villarreal CF.

The company aims to partner with ‘every one of the world’s 20 football leagues ‘ by the end of 2022, having already forged links with the German Football Federation (DFB) and French Football Federation (FFF), as well as other major teams including  including Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

Nicolas Julia, CEO and co-founder of Sorare, commented on the partnership: “NFTs are the future of global sports fandom because they allow fans to come together and to feel ownership of the sports they love.

“This partnership isn’t just a sign of Sorare’s growing leadership in the NFT sports space, it is a major signal of intent by the sporting world that it sees Sorare’s unique ability to connect fans with sports through NFTs as a crucial part of their plans for the future.

“LaLiga is one of the best leagues in the world, home to some of the most exciting clubs and footballers on earth. We are very proud that they have become our first ever league partnership, and we are looking forward to working together in the years ahead.”

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