Digital assets are becoming increasingly intertwined with the sports industry. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen major crypto firms sponsoring some of the biggest sporting teams, events and venues. Several soccer, F1 and cricket teams even have their own crypto tokens. Fans who hold these tokens are privy to exclusive experiences and perks. They can also use these tokens to vote on a number of team decisions.
Now, the latest web3 initiative in sports seems to be NFT fantasy leagues. In the short time that they have been around, these online prediction games have become a huge hit with fans. Some of these platforms even offer players a chance to win millions of dollars’ worth of prize money. But what are NFT fantasy leagues and how do they work? Tag along to find out.
NFT Fantasy leagues: What are they and how do they work?
Most sports enthusiasts will have already heard of fantasy leagues. They are nothing but online prediction games where players create a virtual team of real sports players. This virtual team will then accumulate points based on the real-life performance of its squad members. The objective of the game is to have the most points at the end of a season.
In soccer, matches generally take place over the weekend. Therefore, fantasy league players are allowed to reshuffle their teams every week. This allows them to factor in current form, player injuries, and other details when building their fantasy league team. Based on these factors, players can manage their roster by adding, dropping, trading and selling players to keep winning. Prizes are generally handed out to weekly winners and the highest-ranked players at the end of the season.
NFT fantasy leagues function in a similar manner, only each player can be represented by a digital trading card, which is nothing but a non-fungible token (NFT). Therefore, besides earning points based on real-life performances, players can also buy, sell and trade cards with other players. In a nutshell, NFT fantasy leagues are a crossover between NFT sports trading cards and traditional fantasy leagues.
Sorare’s EPL fantasy league
The EPL is perhaps the most popular football league in the world. And on Jan 30, the soccer giant partnered with Sorare to build its own NFT fantasy league. To begin the game, players are given a budget of 400 points to select eight players from any of the Premier League’s 20 clubs.
Each player will cost you a certain number of points, depending on their recent form and demand. For instance, based on his current goal-scoring record, Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford will cost you 60 points. On the other hand, Erling Haaland is only worth 53 points thanks to his recent lack of performances. Therefore, you need to carefully juggle your points and create a squad with a pair of goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and forwards. Then, before every match week, you need to select 5 players who you think will perform best. Your team will earn points based on the real-world performance of its players.
Each game week, your team's performance will help you win amazing rewards. These rewards can include ETH tokens, digital collectables (trading cards), exclusive merchandise and even player meet-ups. Some lucky players can also receive game tickets to go and see their favourite players in action.
As mentioned earlier, when you start the game, you will be allowed to choose eight players from any of the league’s 20 clubs. These are free cards, also known as common cards. They are not NFTs, but they allow you to start playing the game. Besides these common cards, Sorare also offers digital trading cards for all the players in the league. These digital trading cards are nothing but NFTs.
Each player in the EPL has four kinds of digital trading cards: limited, rare, super rare and unique. Limited cards will have 1,000 copies, rare will have 100, super rare will be capped at 10 and unique cards are one of a kind. Players can win amazing prizes with their common cards as well. However, owning the NFT cards will allow you access to exclusive competitions within the fantasy league and also help you earn bigger rewards.
Other NFT fantasy leagues
Just like the EPL, Sorare also has NFT fantasy leagues for America’s Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Both these games work in a similar fashion as Sorare’s EPL fantasy league. Just recently, the PGA Tour, which is golf’s elite tournament, partnered up with DraftKings, a Sorare rival, to create an NFT Fantasy Golf Game. The game is set to launch in March this year and will allow users to battle for millions of dollars in prize money via NFT player cards.
To enter the game, users need to create a roster of players by buying and trading digital cards based on real-world golfers. And just like a normal fantasy league, players will earn points based on the real-world performance of their chosen golfers. Similarly, DraftKings also have NFT fantasy leagues for America’s National Football League and the global mixed martial arts tournament, UFC.
Conclusion
Normal fantasy leagues are already a hit with sports fans. However, while they do offer amazing rewards, the cards you own on such platforms do not have any value outside the game. This is where NFT fantasy games are different. You can truly own the cards you have earned in the game. They can be sold or traded on the open market for real money. As such, NFT fantasy leagues combine fun with monetary gains and this could boost their popularity in the years to come.
