Berlin Literally every child knows sticker albums for the Bundesliga, World Cup or European Championships: collect, swap, stick in. For publishers like Panini, the business of buying lucky in the pack of cards is a very lucrative one.
The start-up Sorare brings the stickers into the digital world and offers virtual player cards. There are stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, 18 complete national teams for the World Cup in Qatar, plus basketball pros from the North American NBA. They are offered as so-called non-fungible tokens (NFT), forgery-proof and uniquely assignable to the owner.
This use of NFTs sets itself apart from the highly speculative market with digital works of art; the football video game series Fifa has been using virtual trading cards for years. Sorare is therefore supported by well-known investors such as Softbank from Japan and Accel. One of the numerous partners is the German Bundesliga. The French start-up is now worth more than four billion dollars.
Who is behind it?
The head of the start-up founded in 2018 is Frenchman Nicolas Julia. The venture capitalists behind Sorare also include entrepreneur Christian Miele and former German national soccer player André Schürrle.
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“We believe that Sorare has the potential to become one of the leading entertainment companies on the planet,” says Miele. In September 2021, Sorare raised $680 million, raising the largest Series B financing round in Europe to date.
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In addition, the NFT company has brought well-known ambassadors on board who do vigorous marketing. Multiple world footballer Messi was only added this week. Ex-tennis player Serena Williams and Kylian Mbappé have been there for a long time.
Why is this relevant?
“Sorare brings together two very popular concepts – play and collect. The biggest innovation is that, for the first time, participants really own their cards and can also use them outside of the platform,” says Julia.
So the cards could be used in the fantasy manager games and there, for example, meetings with players and access to games in the real world could be gained – there is a “usability”, a benefit.
The CEO and co-founder of Sorare with his Chief Technology Officer Adrien Montfort. Julia wants to build an international entertainment giant through the digital trading cards.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
“Before NFTs, you couldn’t own anything digitally. Now that’s possible,” says Julia, who is now launching a new manager game especially for the World Cup in Qatar. Sorare now has more than two million users worldwide and has partnerships with 300 sports organizations that pay royalties to the company.
What do critics say?
The NFT market has recently cooled off in a similar way, partly because of the cryptocurrency business – also because investors shy away from risky investments. Blockchain expert Daniel Diemers considers this normal because the market is young and therefore highly volatile.
>> Read also: What you need to know about buying NFTs
He assumes that the possession and exchange of virtual objects still has a future. After all, cash can be made by selling the tickets. Digital trading cards can cost 50 cents on Sorare, but in exceptional cases they can also reach six-digit amounts. The record holder to date is footballer Erling Haaland’s unique card from his last season at Borussia Dortmund. It cost 609,512 euros in February.
What are the company’s plans?
Football fan Julia wants to build the world’s leading sports entertainment platform. To get one step closer to the goal, Sorare also started in the USA and entered into partnerships with the NBA and the US baseball league MLB.
US competitors include basketball NFT specialist NBA Top Shot. In one respect, Sorare is already significantly further than other start-ups: “We are profitable and are growing despite the macroeconomic challenges.” Last year, they turned over 300 million euros. After the financing round last September, Sorare is well equipped for the time being. Fresh money is currently not necessary, says Julia.
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