Crypto and its Sports Integration

Written By: Kenichi Yamaguchi | July 15 2021

Crypto will set a new record for the largest private fundraising event in history. Sorare, a French fantasy football game and non-homogeneous token trading (NFT) platform, has completed a financing of US$532 million, valued at US$3.8 billion. This round will increase the already profitable 2021 for crypto startups. The first 6 rounds of funding this year totaled more than $1.9 billion. The NFT drilling rigs, which set new records in this climate, will also refute claims that vertical industries have lost momentum after the hot winter. 

According to anonymous sources who spoke with Business Insider, reportedly led the round of financing by Japan Telecom SoftBank with participation from London venture capital firm Atomico. European investment firm Eurazeo and venture capital firm Blisce can also participate. As of press time, Sorare did not respond to a request for comment.

The fundraising event came after the US$4.44 million Series A round of financing in February. This round of financing was led by the venture capital firm Benchmark, with the participation of venture capital firm Accel Partners and football legends themselves, including Barcelona striker Antoine Griez Man and Rio Ferdinand, the captain of Manchester United, and the British national team. 

 Sorare is a fantasy football game in which players use digital player cards in the form of NFTs to trade and manage virtual teams. In addition to game apps, digital player cards are officially authorized collections that include superstar football players such as Alfonso Davis or Mark McKenzie. Since its establishment in 2018, Sorare has cooperated with 142 football clubs, including Real Madrid Football Club and Liverpool Football Club. And the Portuguese sports club used to issue new player cards. 

According to data from Nonfungible.com, in the past 30 days alone, Sorare has contributed to 43,933 sales with a total value of more than 9 million U.S. dollars. The highest sales volume in the past 30 days is Antoine Griezmann’s single player card, which means that only one is issued each season, sold at a price of 50.8 ETH, valued at $114,916.