UEFA club competitions to debut on Football Manager game with 2023 edition
September 12 – Football Manager, the cult football management simulation video game, will include UEFA’s club competitions for the first time in the 2023 edition.
Digital platforms
FIFA set for blockchain launch of World Cup digital collectibles this month
September 4 – FIFA will launch its range of official digital collectibles later this month, starting with a series of World Cup ‘moments’ from the men’s and women’s finals.
Socios and Argentine FA leave past quarrels behind with new deal to 2026 World Cup
September 1 – The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has confirmed Socios.com will continue as exclusive providers of the official $ARG Fan Token until at least 2026, despite the two partners falling out in a legal dispute over rights in January.
MLS renews with EA Sports in a deal that will cover rebranding of the FIFA franchised game
August 24 – Major League Soccer (MLS) has agreed a multi-year agreement with EA Sports that will see them extend their partnership beyond the end of the FIFA23 video game license that ends this year before the game is renamed EA Sports FC.
DAZN expands from streaming into sports betting with pilot gaming platform
August 23 – Sports streaming service DAZN, which has built a base worldwide of about 4 million subscribers on a sports output underpinned by football, is venturing into the sports betting business.
Arsenal stick with Konami’s eFootball series for the ‘long-term”
August 22 – Premier League table toppers Arsenal have extended their partnership with Konami Digital Entertainment in what the club is saying is a “long-term partnership from the 2023/23 season onwards”.
Blockchain-based Socios.com gets regulatory approval in Italy
August 19 – Fan token specialist Socios.com has secured regulatory approval as a service provider of virtual currencies and digital wallets for its fan engagement and rewards platform in Italy.
BeIN and Twitter partner for World Cup content push
August 16 – Broadcaster BeIN Sports has partnered with social media platform Twitter to share content during the World Cup in November and December.
UEFA issues NFT tender for national team competitions
August 11 – UEFA has issued a tender for licensing rights to NFTs for national team football competitions.
Socios.com buys $100m stake in Barca Studios as club accelerates Web3 and blockchain strategies
August 2 – FC Barcelona has sold a 24.5% stake in Barca Studios, the club’s digital content and distribution hub, for $100 million to blockchain technology provider Chiliz.com, owner of the Socios.com Fan Token and NFT platform.
Man City go live with Recast Channel and micro-payment revenue model
July 27 – Micro-payment streaming platform Recast has launched a Manchester City channel that is available globally and kicked off with the club’s friendly against Bayern Munich last weekend in Green Bay.
EA Sports signs Juventus in multi-year deal as FIFA franchise draws to a close
July 25 – Juventus is returning to EA Sports’ FIFA games for the FIFA 23 edition, leaving rival Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer video game where the club has been exclusive for the past three years.
Sorare signs Serie A to NFT-driven player card fantasy game
July 25 – Fantasy football game Sorare has added Italy’s Serie A to deals it holds with Spain’s LaLiga, Germany’s Bundesliga and the MLS in the US, to release non-fungible token (NFT) player cards for the coming 2022-23 season.
Serie A and OneFootball to launch 1,300-strong ‘digital moments’ collection
July 20 – The cryptocurrency crash undoubtedly slowed the growth of blockchain-based sports marketing opportunities like Fan Tokens and NFTs but a new agreement between OneFootball and Italy’s Serie A is proof of life that the digital platforms could still come roaring back.
Real Sociedad to become 6th LaLiga club on Socios.com’s crypto platform
July 13 – The noise around club Fan Tokens has died down recently following the cryptocurrency crash and criticism of the low tradeable values of the tokens. It hasn’t, however, stopped Real Sociedad becoming the seventh LaLiga club on the socios.com platform.