In brief
- Sorare, a blockchain-based fantasy soccer game, has signed Paris Saint-Germain F.C.
- PSG is the game’s 100th licensed club, and its players will be released as digital cards.
- Sorare has also officially launched in the US and will pursue club licenses there.
Ethereum-driven fantasy soccer game Sorare continues its rapid growth, announcing today that it has signed 2020 Champions League finalist Paris Saint-Germain F.C. as the 100th licensed club in the game.
Current PSG stars such as Neymar and Kylian Mbappé will be tokenized on the blockchain and released in the game as digital cards, which users can purchase, collect, trade, and use to form their fantasy squads to compete against other Sorare players.
Additionally, Sorare will tokenize some former PSG players, such as David Beckham during his time with the team in 2013. Sorare offers player cards for purchase in various rarities, including limited-edition cards, each of which is provably scarce via the blockchain.
According to Sorare, the partnership will be communicated semi-regularly through PSG’s social channels, and the team is ranked 6th in the world across all sports in terms of social media presence with more than 80 million followers total across platforms.
“Paris Saint-Germain is this year's Champions League finalist with incredible players in the team such as Neymar and Mbappé. It's an honor to have them join as the 100th licensed club,” Sorare CEO Nicolas Julia told Decrypt. “Having them communicate about Sorare helps onboard many new people to blockchain gaming and the Ethereum space."
Sorare also announced today that it has officially launched the game in the United States, signaling plans to begin marketing the game in the country and expand its footprint there.
The game has already been playable in the United States, and in fact is Sorare’s second-largest market in terms of both user base and average amount of time that users spend on it daily. According to a release, the US has seen 70% month-over-month growth, and Sorare will seek additional US partnerships after signing the Major League Soccer Players Association in June.
Sorare notes that the US has more than 60 million fantasy sports players along with healthy demand for collecting sports trading cards, although proving the legitimacy of physical cards can be a challenge. Thanks to blockchain technology, Sorare’s digital cards can easily be authenticated with proven scarcity.
According to a release, Sorare now has more than 40,000 users around the world, with an average of 52% month-over-month growth since its early 2019 debut. The game’s revenue has increased from $30,000 in December 2019 to $800,000 last month. In July, Sorare announced that it had raised $4 million in an oversubscribed seed round.