Sorare, which makes popular blockchain-bsed sports games, said it will auction the first officially licensed non-fungible token (NFT) digital collectibles of the top five NBA draft picks.
NBA player Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs will be part of the card auction. It might not sound like much, but Sorare has five million players in 180 countries for its sports games, and they pay money for these kinds of collectibles.
Sorare players can bid, collect, and play with these collectibles as part of their fantasy Sorare: NBA lineups during the upcoming NBA season.
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The special edition cards will feature a rookie badge and will be part of the rare card population for the 2023-2024 season with a 10% XP bonus throughout the season. Sorare is the official NFT fantasy partner of the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). The other players include Brandon Miller of the Charlotte Hornets, Scoot Henderson of the Portland Trail Blazers, Amen Thompson of the Houston Rockets and Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons.
In five separate auctions beginning on July 9, 2023, Sorare players dubbed “managers” will be able to bid on special edition cards of these players.
The auctions come ahead of the start of Sorare’s second season as the fantasy NFT partner for the NBA. The three most popular players last season on Sorare were Nic Claxton (Brooklyn Nets), Luka Dončić (Dallas Mavericks), and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks). Back in February, the unique card of Giannis Antetokounmpo sold for a record breaking $187,000, which marked the highest sale on Sorare: NBA.
“As a French NBA fan, I followed this year’s draft with great interest,” said Nicolas Julia, CEO of Sorare, said in a statement, “It’s been an exciting start to what should be another great season in the NBA. We’re committed to giving fans new ways to connect with their favorite stars and this will give Sorare Managers the chance to own a truly unique part of NBA history, add exciting players to their collection, and play their digital player cards in their lineups.”
Sorare was founded by Julia and Adrien Montfort in 2018 in Paris to bring sports fans across the globe closer to the players, teams, and leagues they love. The company has 160 employees and it is based in France. The company raised $680 million at a $4.3 billion valuation and it has athletes among its investors: Serena Williams, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane, Rio Ferdinand, Antoine Griezmann, Gerard Piqué, Blake Griffin and Rudy Gobert.