World of Women, the blue chip NFT collection focused on empowering women around the world, has partnered with one of Europe’s most successful female football clubs, FC Barcelona, to release the second artwork from its ‘Masterpiece’ non-fungible token collection.
The digital artwork is called ‘Empowerment,’ and was inspired by the world-renowned Spanish footballer Alexia Putellas. Like WoW, Alexia is an advocate for female empowerment, and for promoting equal opportunities for women and girls in the industry.
Alexia is the captain of the Barcelona team, a representative of Spain’s national club, and a goal-scoring midfielder who’s won FIFA’s award for the best female soccer player in the world the past two consecutive years. Since 2012, she’s won seven league titles, two UEFA Women’s Champions League Trophies, and seven Copas de la Reina. During the 2020-21 season, she led Barcelona to win the Champions League title and the Continental Treble for the first time in its history.
Empowerment is a 1:1 NFT created by Rhiana Madeline, a WoW digital artist known for combining traditional fine art skills with nascent technological software. To make the piece, Madeline first created a 3D sculpture of Alexia. Then she added special effects, digital painting, audio from Barca fans chanting, and lighting effects. Alexia is depicted in gold to symbolize her powerful legacy in the sport and among female athletes.
Furthermore, the NFT isn’t just a cool piece of digital art from a renowned artist. It also comes with unique benefits such as a meet-and-greet with Alexia in person, an IRL chair from the Barcelona Stadium Spotify Camp Nou, and a signed pair of match-worn football boots from the athlete’s 2023 Champions League Final victory.
Diana-Luk Ye, Head of Strategic Accounts at World of Women, told Rarity Sniper that the project’s mission is “to increase representation for women in sports and obliterate the barriers that hold them back. Alexia embodies the rise of women in sports within one of the world’s greatest soccer clubs. Together, we’re etching the indomitable spirit, unyielding ambition, and unwavering strength of women like Alexia into the very fabric of the blockchain, creating an everlasting legacy.”
Empowerment went up for sale on OpenSea on June 26th. During the course of writing this article, a bid was accepted for the NFT for 162 ETH, or around $303,560 from OpenSea user amartinb.eth.
NFTs Continue to Make Their Mark in Sports
Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen NFTs and Web3 infiltrate a myriad of sectors, including art, music, fashion, film, entertainment, automobiles and even tourism. But perhaps no other industry has been as enthusiastic about the next iteration of the internet as sports.
At Rarity Sniper, hardly a week goes by that we don’t write about an athlete, sports team, or sports league entering the space. What began in 2020 with the launch of NBA Top Shot NFTs has spread throughout the entire industry.
Here are some of the top headlines in recent months about NFTs in sports:
- Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2nd NFT Set to Debut on July 3rd
- Mythical Games & the NFL Drop Player NFTs for the Super Bowl
- AC Milan Partners with Sorare for Fantasy Sports NFTs
- ‘El Clasico’ Spanish Soccer NFTs Sell Out in an Hour
- Scottie Pippen’s NFTs Fly Off the Shelves in Record Time
- Sports NFT Market Doubles to $2.6B in 2022
WoW’s recent collaboration with FC Barcelona for the sale of its Empowerment NFT proves that fans still have an appetite for exclusive sports-themed NFTs. It also shows us that symbiotic relationships between sports entities and NFT platforms are being born every day. At Rarity Sniper, we’ll be following up on any updates to the story.
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