Football and beyond: When several sports worlds combine with Fintech to create something great

by James · July 20, 2022

We have discussed to a large extent at Fintech Times how fintech has begun to integrate into the world of football. As partnerships continue to take place, we must also emphasize that these partnerships are not exclusive to football, but also apply to other sports. We look at some of the latest deals in the world of football and beyond.

The NHL and associates announce Sweet as their official NFT partner

We begin by discussing how fintechs are making inroads in the Great White North and the US, and look at a partnership between National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National Hockey League Alumni Association (NHLAA) and non-fungible token (NFT) distribution platform, Sweet when the NHL and its associates announced a new multi-year partnership naming Sweet the Official NFT Digital Collectibles Marketplace and an Official NFT Partner of the NHL, NHLPA and NHLAA.

The Sweet-operated NHL Marketplace will focus on providing the entire community of NHL fans and collectors with a unique and valuable engagement experience through the ability to buy, sell, collect and trade pieces of NHL history never before offered.

With a planned launch at the start of the 2022-23 NHL season, the standalone NHL platform built specifically for this program by Sweet will showcase current and historical moments as well as iconic elements of the game in the form of non-fungible tokens.

“We are proud to launch the NHL’s Official NFT Digital Collectibles Marketplace this upcoming season and to provide this new and innovative interactive point of contact for NHL fans,” said Dave Lehanski, NHL Executive Vice President, Business Development and Innovation. “We have invested a significant amount of time analyzing the marketplace and establishing a fan-first strategy and is now excited to announce a partnership with a company that will not only provide us with a world-class digital NFT collector experience, but also a commitment to developing a comprehensive platform that is fully designed and customized for the NHL and completely focused on connecting with hockey fans in the most authentic and engaging way possible.”

Dani Alves announces 43 luxury watches with corresponding NFTs

Earlier we discussed the Brazilian left-back Marcelo‘s Bitso announcement – it seems he wasn’t the only one to get involved in the new digital world, but as now Brazilian right-back, Dani Alvesbest known for his time at FC Barcelona, has launched 43 luxury watches and their NFTs, commemorating every major trophy he won in an illustrious career spanning 22 years. The launch was held at MetaTerrassea hectic metaverse-based nightlife lounge in Dubai, June 28.

ColossalBit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency, blockchain, NFTs and metaverse consulting, advisory, design and development company, hosted the event. ColossalBit also collaborated with the renowned watchmaker Backes and Strauss in making the NFTs of the latter’s watch. The 43 physical luxury watches were unveiled along with fractional, premium and regular NFT variants of the same.

“The metaverse revolution has found a true champion in Dani Alves. He brings with him the same energy, charisma and personality that he brought to the pitch. The overwhelming response to this NFT drop is testament to the promise that blockchain and its associated applications hold. We are excited to be at the forefront of NFT, metaverse, crypto and Web3 technologies and their development in the Middle East and beyond,” said Christian Chalfounco-founder and CTO, ColossalBit and MetaTerrace.

The popularity of blockchain games reaches the NFL

SuperTeam Gameit NFL Players Association (NFLPA) and OneTeam partners (OneTeam) collaborate to put together a new type of sports game called STG Football, a blockchain-enabled game designed to innovate on existing sports game franchises. STG Football has unique gameplay with an emphasis on teamwork and fast-paced satisfying 7v7 action.

STG Football is a free-to-play, real-time, arcade football game. Each game features seven professional soccer players per side, with four of those players controlled by actual players and the other three controlled by artificial intelligence. It will have enough on-field strategic and soccer elements to feel realistic, with a modified ruleset to emphasize faster turnaround time, game pace and unique gameplay. SuperTeam Games plans a beta launch of STG Football in Q3 of 2022 with a full free-to-play launch on PC in Q1 of 2023.

“We believe that our team has the ability to breathe new life into today’s selection of sports games on the market and, as passionate sports fans, build a game that is fast, fun and offers a new take on the genre,” said Jerome Collin , co-founder and CEO director of SuperTeam Games. “We are excited to be one of the first blockchain-enabled games to partner directly with the NFL Players Association, guaranteeing authentic gameplay for our community.”

European football fan tokens listed on Zonda

Probe, a European-based digital currency exchange with over one million registered users, announced the launch of fan tokens on its platform. Fans of sports clubs such as Italian football club Juventus ($JUV), and Polish football team Legia Warsaw ($LEG), will be able to support their club through trading pairs with Euro and Polish zloty.

Developed by Socios.comportion of Chillies (CHZ) network, fan tokens introduce a new layer of engagement to the world of sports, helping supporters interact with their favorite clubs in a unique way. Sports fans from anywhere in the world can now take part in a variety of club-specific voting decisions at events such as updating a team’s motto, changing club kit designs or even influencing a match starting formation.

Stanislav Havryliukoperations manager at Zonda, said, “We are excited to add Fan Tokens to our growing list of digital assets because they bring a new and interesting twist to the crypto world. Through Fan Tokens, supporters can engage with their favorite sports team in a unique way, provide valuable input on club decisions and gain access to a number of exclusive benefits not available anywhere else. We love to see blockchain being used in new and innovative ways, and fan tokens certainly do that.”

Millwall FC enhances online ticketing experience with OneID partnership

Millwall F.C has partnered with British technology start-up, OneIDto revamp how fans log in online, making it easier for them to interact with the club online when buying tickets and merchandise.

This partnership is symbolic of how football clubs embrace technology with a fan–centric and forward-looking approach. For example, in 2014 the World Cup in Brazil had more than 3.2 billion soccer fans watching the World Cup worldwide. Since then, online viewing across digital platforms has continued to grow in popularity. The relationship between football and the fans is becoming more digitally led and an increasing number of games are being watched on mobile devices worldwide.

Fast forward to today and The The International Football Association Board (IFAB), football’s governing body, has stated that artificial intelligence-powered semi-automated VAR offside technology is on track to be implemented at this year’s World Cup in Qatar. This semi-automatic technology was developed by FIFA and should cut the time to make an offside decision down to three to four seconds by providing VAR with more accurate and faster information.

Steve Kavanagh, CEO of Millwall FCcommented: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with OneID, which has helped the club transform its online offering for supporters. The ease with which fans can use their technology to quickly and easily register for a single sign-on account, or “Millwall profile”, speaks for itself, and I would like to thank everyone at OneID for their efforts throughout this process. We look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead to continue to grow together.”