Football star Lionel Messi joins NFT Game Sorare as investor and brand ambassador

Lionel Messi, one of the biggest stars in Argentine football, announced his involvement as an investor and brand ambassador in Sorare, an NFT (non-fungible token) game. Sorare hopes that Messi’s presence will improve the way the company interacts with users, setting new standards in this regard. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Lionel Messi partners with NFT Game Sorare

Lionel Messi, one of football’s biggest stars and current PSG player, is now a brand ambassador and investor in the NFT Sorare card game. The player’s presence is aimed at growing the Sorare brand and improving the quality of the brand’s interactions with its users.

As part of that association, Sorare announced that Messi took a stake in the company, without disclosing the numbers behind that transaction. For Sorare, Messi’s association is a milestone for the company, which had already seen interest from another Spanish footballer, Gerard Piqué.

Messi’s deal would also include creating new experiences on the platform. About this development, Sorare CEO and co-founder Nicolas Julia said:

We believe Messi will help us set new standards in how we do this, and we look forward to sharing the new content and fan experiences we collaborate with soon.

Other sports stars such as football player Kylian Mbappe and tennis player Serena Williams have already established similar associations with the brand. The platform raised $680 million in its Series B funding round in September 2021.

Messi’s cryptographic ties

For Messi, approaching companies related to cryptocurrencies and NFTs is not a new experience. The player has been very open to linking his name and brand to other companies in the ecosystem. In fact, he was one of the first players to receive part of his contract paid for in cryptocurrency, when he signed with his current club, PSG, in August 2021. As part of the deal, Messi would receive part of his $30 payout. .of a $1 million PSG contract, a fan token launched by the club in association with Socios.com

In October, the football star also signed a deal with Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange focused on social trading, to provide fans with a “unique opportunity to explore Web 3.0 and the potential of trading cryptocurrencies on the exchange.” Furthermore, Messi’s ties to cryptocurrency companies date back to his partnership with Sirin Labs, a company that promoted the development of a secure blockchain-based phone, in 2017.