If there’s one thing that characterizes the World Cup in Qatar 2022, it’s money. FIFA reported that it has received approximately $7.5 billion from sponsorships this year. An unprecedented figure, exceeding the World Cup in Russia by more than $ 1,000 million. And if it did hit those numbers, it’s partly due to the attractiveness of cryptocurrencies. Unfortunately for their interests, an unprecedented crisis occurred in the crypto world just before the World Cup started.
Crypto.com is one of the main sponsors. More than ten years had passed since an American company sponsored the World Cup. Crypto.com, one of the largest exchanges in the world, put the money on the table. The cryptocurrency company is known for partnering with sports events and stadiums like the Los Angeles Lakers.
NFTs are everywhere. We have already seen how they flirt with NFTs and virtual trading cards from LaLiga, now we see that the World Cup in Qatar wants to become a global event that reinforces them. Several collections have been launched for this World Cup that are expected to gain a lot of visibility as they belong to many of the event’s main sponsors.
FIFA+ Collect is a collection of virtual stickers commemorating some of the most iconic moments of the World Cups. For this they formed an alliance with Algorand and using a few top football players to encourage them.
It’s not just them. Budweiser beer brand launched Budverse some NFTs based on official signs of matches. The idea is to have the token of your choice and pay to access certain experiences. As with trading cards, there are always more interesting collectibles than others.
Masters of Movement is perhaps NFT’s most elaborate project for the World Cup. VISA has teamed up with Crypto.com to create five NFTs based on the goals of Jared Borgetti, Maxi Rodríguez, Tim Cahill, Carli Lloyd, and Michael Owen. The movement of these targets has been translated into a dynamic image generated by an algorithm. The result will be auctioned and the proceeds will go to a charity.
Digitizing fans’ goals. Investing in NFTs also has an upside in stadiums. In Doha, fans will be able to approach the stands, where they can enter a pitch with tracking technology to digitize goals scored. So convert their goals into NFT. Instead of classical photography, they will have a more modern digital memory.
Messi, Cristiano or La Roja already have their own collections. Everyone wants to have their own token. Creating them is simple and is a way of trying to capitalize on the fan phenomenon. The Spanish National Team launched its own national team last year and although they expect it to grow with the World Cup, the truth is that its value has remained fairly stable. There is something else that makes the Argentina National Team grow.
Messi started his collection on Ethernity when he signed to PSG, and recently Cristiano Ronaldo has teamed up with Binance for a collection called CR7. The World Cup is an event that brings together millionaire audiences and is seen as a golden opportunity to encourage more people to buy these tokens.
The collapse of FTX could shake up FIFA’s plans. The FTX crash collapsed trust in blockchain projects. FIFA had hoped the World Cup would be an ideal showcase for their NFTs, but found itself in a cryptocurrency market during the low hours.
“Cryptocurrency companies are betting more on football than football on crypto companies,” summarizes José Parra Moyano, professor of ‘blockchain’ at the Copenhagen Business School. Sponsorships were denied by some football teams with crypto companies to prevent millionaires from possible clashes with partners. However, in Qatar, FIFA went unchecked. We’ll have to wait until the World Cup is over to see how the fans take it.
Source: Xataka
Alice Smith is a seasoned journalist and writer for Div Bracket. She has a keen sense of what’s important and is always on top of the latest trends. Alice provides in-depth coverage of the most talked-about news stories, delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles that keep her readers informed and engaged.