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Binance, the global cryptocurrency exchange, and Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo are teaming up to create an NFT collection and act on expansive plans to take over the digital art industry.
According to the crypto exchange, the first NFT collection will be released later this year and will be explicitly sold through Binance’s own NFT platform.
Switching football for NFTs
The objective is to introduce Manchester United’s star player supporters to Web3, and to ease their transition into the NFT community.
Changpeng Zhao, CEO and founder of Binance, said that Ronaldo had transcended the boundaries of sports to become a symbol in various sectors.
Through his ingenuity, talent, and charitable endeavours, the football celebrity has developed one of the most substantial followings in the world, Zhao said.
Zhao added that the Binance team is also thrilled to provide Ronaldo fans with “unique chances to interact with Ronaldo” as owners of the upcoming NFT collections.
Ronaldo speaks out
Sharing his thoughts on this NFT collaboration, Ronaldo said that the NFT space is crucial for interacting with his fans. He also feels it is very important to have a close relationship with his followers, and a partnership with Binance serves as an important step towards this goal.
Further, this is not Ronaldo’s first exposure to cryptocurrencies. He was awarded cryptocurrency tokens for his sporting accomplishments in March. In addition, the club’s official fan token, the JUV token, was awarded to Ronaldo for each career goal he scored during his senior career.
NFTs in sports
Ronaldo is one of many players and sports organizations across the world who have embraced the NFT trend in a bid to maintain fan engagement.
Furthermore, Binance’s announcement highlights the company’s commitment to promoting international soccer, building on existing collaborations with professional sports clubs such as S.S. Lazio and FC Porto, as well as the Argentine Football Association and the Brazilian Football Confederation.
Additionally, the English Premier League (EPL), in which Cristiano Ronaldo presently plays, has applied for two trademarks for the purpose of improving relationships with fans.
Cryptocurrency startups have used sports alliances to gain widespread acceptance. The cryptocurrency company FTX Trading sold a stake to New England Patriots star Tom Brady last year, but Crypto.com renamed the Staples Center at the Los Angeles Staples Center as the Crypto.com Arena after negotiating a $700 million deal.
Today, corporations see NFTs as a newly found marketing vehicle that can do wonders to the sales numbers. And Ronaldo’s partnership is another proof that the trend is nowhere near of dying out.
Are you sold?
Binance will offer Cristiano Ronaldo’s NFT collections exclusively on Binance’s NFT platform over the course of the agreement. The first collection that Ronaldo has designed, is slated for release later this year.
