The NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) just announced that they are partnering with Web3 company Sorare for the first non-fungible token-based fantasy basketball game.
Sorare is an NFT trading and fantasy sports platform that was valued at $4.3 billion last year. The Web3 company currently has deals with Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer and holds licenses with over 280 international soccer clubs and leagues including Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, and Spain’s La Liga.
The new NFT game from Sorare is expected to launch around the time of the NBA’s season opener on October 18th, though details of the deal have yet to be released. What is known is that the game will be free to anyone 18 years and older. It will allow users to create teams based on NFT cards of individual players and earn points based on how their players perform on the court.
The NBA and NBPA are no strangers to Web3. In 2019, the league partnered with Dapper Labs to develop NBA Top Shot, an NFT marketplace that lets users buy, sell, and trade NBA highlights and moments in the form of NFTs.
The league hopes that the multi-year deal with Sorare will give it enough time to build a sustainable and mutually beneficial partnership. The NBA also believes that the new NFT fantasy game coming this fall will not be in direct competition with NBA Top Shot, but rather an alternative with distinct features.
Sorare Is Building in the Bear Market
Bear markets are for building, and perhaps no Web3 company understands this as much as Sorare. At Rarity Sniper, we’ve reported on several moves from the fantasy sports and NFT trading company over the past couple of months. Here are some of the top stories.
Five months ago, America’s Major League Soccer (MLS) inked a deal with Sorare to release sports NFTs. The partnership gives Sorare the right to mint NFT trading cards of MLS players and teams. Fans can use the NFTs in Sorare fantasy soccer matches.
Next, the PGA Tour closed a deal with Sorare that will allow golfers to earn royalties from NFTs offered on the platform. Like with the MLS, the new PGA NFTs will be connected to each golfer’s real world performance and can be used in fantasy golf tournaments. The PGA is offering significant incentives for top golfers to join the NFT program.
Lastly, about four months ago Major League Baseball began working with Sorare for an NFT-based fantasy baseball game. The game will feature NFT trading cards that correspond to IRL athletes. All of the NFTs are based on the Ethereum blockchain.
Fantasy sports have been popular for some time now and bringing the fun to Web3 seems like a no-brainer. Time will tell if Sorare and the NBA’s new NFT game will be as popular among fans as NBA Top Shot. But for now, Sorare is looking like the go-to platform for sports NFTs and Web3 fantasy games.