Major League Soccer, which is the official soccer league in the United States (or “football league” in other countries), just made a big new signing: Striker, an NFT Bored Ape. In a recent exclusive announcement, the news was shared with nft today.
The one-of-a-kind signing was taken care of by the ge3 branch of Get Engaged. Through this agreement, the club hopes to take advantage of the fact that NFTs have become more popular in the sports world over the past few years. Striker used to be called Bored Ape #6045 before he became a virtual athlete. To put it simply, Get Engaged spent a lot of money to get this particular ape. In the end, they paid 100 ETH to buy it. The previous owner, who bought the ape NFT for only 8.45 ETH in 2021, made a big profit from this.
As the league’s newest All-Star, striker will play in the MLS All-Star Game on August 10 as if it were his first game. On the virtual field, Striker is set up to play the role of a striker.
But this is not the first time that NFTs have been used in a Major League Soccer deal. In May 2021, the league put out its first set of NFTs, and in March 2022, it worked with the sports-focused NFT marketplace Sorare to set up a blockchain-based fantasy soccer competition.
The role of Major League Soccer in the NFT sector gets stronger
The sports industry is slowly getting used to NFTs as more investment and community-building opportunities come up. Steph Curry, a four-time NBA champion, is one of the league’s most well-known backers. He has taken part in team-focused projects like Top Shot. On the other hand, the NFL just made its own blockchain game and promoted NFTs a lot during the Super Bowl, which is a great place to advertise.
Virtual things have always been used in the entertainment business. After Gorillaz came out in the late 2000s, avatar-based music projects became more and more popular, building up to the boom of the VTuber scene in the late 2010s. In the past, there was even a dispute between an artist and the famous hip-hop producer Timbaland.
As non-financial transactions (NFTs) continue to grow in the sports and entertainment industries, now is a great time for creators to look for projects that work at the intersection of these multibillion-dollar businesses.
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