English Premier League futbol club Manchester United has launched it’s very first digital collectable, the first of which will be gifted to fans on the Tezos platform, and has plans to launch a new Web3 community, according to an official announcement.
“Football means so much to so many people and Manchester United, not to mention its fans, are the titans in the sport” Mason Edwards, Chief Commercial Officer, of Tezos Foundation said. “It is an honor to be part of the Club’s first step into Web3 through the creation of digital collectibles which the club and its followers will cherish for years to come. It takes an appreciation of football and the club’s history, but also a blockchain that’s powerful, decentralized, resilient and scalable to do it. That’s Tezos.”
It’s clear that Manchester United understands the viability of Web3, but also their overall global popularity, and leveraging a form of Sports NFTs is certainly a sound marketing and branding strategy.
“Much like the football traditions of old, such as collecting match programs, club badges and sticker books, fans will soon have the additional option to collect this new type of digital memorabilia” Manchester United’s CEO of Digital Products and Experiences, Phil Lynch added. “The first digital collectable is being gifted to fans by a Tezos-powered platform, and with the support of Tezos Foundation we will join fans on their journey into this new world, with the club providing education and guidance along the way.
“Having watched the Web3 space closely and consulted with fans for their views on how this unique virtual world should operate, we’ve worked with the Tezos ecosystem teams to apply these learnings and believe that the launch of Manchester United digital collectables is different to others, providing the option of unique and enhanced engagement opportunities to our incredible fans.”
Once the NFTs are released, Manchester United will also share easy-to-follow tutorials on official club channels that’ll feature players from both the male and female club teams as part of an extensive suite of educational materials aimed at helping fans understand Web3 and how digital collectibles can benefit match-goers and international supporters alike.
Once the NFTs roll out, it will be interesting to see how the club leverages Web3 influencers and even sports content creators to help push their new collections.
