The French non-fungible token trading game Sorare has added soccer star Lionel Messi as an investor and a brand ambassador.
According to a statement released by the company on Wednesday, the Argentinian, a striker for the French team Paris Saint-Germain(PSG), will help Sorare establish new benchmarks for how fans interact with teams and athletes. In addition, they’ll collaborate to develop fresh content and fan experiences, Sorare said.
The company added that Messi had taken an equity share in Sorare as part of the agreement, although it did not specify the size of his own or any other details. Sorare’s CEO and co-founder Nicolas Julia described the collaboration with Messi as a “major milestone” for the business.
Players in Sorare have a variety of fantasy sports games to choose from, including basketball, where they can opt to acquire virtual cards. Players can then put together a team using the cards and compete with other users worldwide.
Intriguingly, Sorare had more than 2 million subscribers in more than 185 countries at its most recent valuation of $4.3 billion. Including the Spanish La Liga and the German Bundesliga, the NFT fantasy game has partnerships with more than 300 sports organizations.
The collaboration with Sorare is the latest noteworthy agreement between a sports star and a cryptocurrency platform. Both American tennis great Serena Williams and French soccer player Kylian Mbappe have previously established partnerships with Sorare. Tom Brady, an American football quarterback, purchased stock in the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which on Tuesday agreed to be sold to competitor company Binance due to a liquidity crisis.
Messi and the Socios Sports Fan Engagement platform struck a contract in March last year to promote the platform’s native Chiliz (CHZ) cryptocurrency. In accordance with a separate contract, the Argentine talisman also serves as a brand ambassador for the company.
Messi also consented to collect a portion of his income in $PSG fan tokens, the virtual currency created by the same app just for Paris Saint-Germain, when he signed a two-year contract with the club.
Institutional investors view the NFT sector as a viable one for expanding to international markets. Additionally, Web3 technology, which encompasses the majority of NFT marketplaces, is decentralized and accessible via the internet from any location in the world.