MLS signs a BAYC as a digital athlete! This is information that does not go unnoticed in the field of sports and in the NFT sector. The MLS, the North American soccer league, has just signed a Bored Ape as a digital athlete! Throwback to this world premiere!
An NFT as a digital athlete?
MLS for Major League Soccer is the North American football league, or soccer as we say across the Atlantic. It brings together the best clubs in the United States and Canada. It has become in recent years a popular destination for former football stars such as David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Los Angeles or more recently Nani in Orlando.
The MLS has therefore just announced an unusual signing since it just signed a Bored Ape Yacht Club last week. This NFT dubbed ' Striker ' is touted by the league as the first digital athlete to sign with a professional sports organization.
The MLS has also promoted it during the MLS All-Star Game, the event bringing together the best players in the league, in the flesh this time!
In a press release, the following statements from BAYC could be read:
"I am very happy to join Major League Soccer, the fastest-growing league in North America. In a league where players come from over 82 countries, it's an honor to be the first digital athlete. I can't wait to step onto the virtual pitch”.
An astonishing statement but rather consistent with that of a real player. This signing is above all a publicity stunt for the North American Football League. The latter made this signature in collaboration with ge3, a division of the online marketing company Get Engaged. It is this company that also owns Striker, the first digital athlete NFT!
A publicity stunt that falls at the wrong time
In a country where football does not represent much, this announcement is clearly perceived as a publicity stunt from the MLS. Behind giants like American football, basketball, baseball, and hockey, football is struggling to exist.
However, the MLS has been on the rise in recent years and although light years away from its competitors, is beginning to attract many large companies. Audi has notably become the main sponsor since 2015, testifying to the attraction of large companies to the North American football league.
This announcement does not seem to delight fans of the round ball, especially on Twitter. The opposition of some fans to NFT is particularly apparent in the number of comments hostile to this world premiere.
Moreover, this announcement comes at a critical moment for the NFT market, which in the wake of the entire crypto market is experiencing an impressive drop. According to the specialized media NonFungible, NFT transactions in dollars fell by nearly 25% between the first and second quarters.
These conditions have notably forced certain players in the sector, such as the market leader, OpenSea, to lay off employees.
This announcement is all the worse, as MLS's little sister, the National Women's Soccer League had the idea of entering into an important sponsorship partnership with a now well-known crypto company, Voyager.
This same company, due to more than catastrophic risk management, had to file for bankruptcy a few weeks ago.
The agreement between the NWSL included allowing female players to easily invest in cryptocurrencies and allowing them to receive part of their crypto salary. However, with the bankruptcy of the platform, the players never saw these funds in their accounts!
A situation that forced the executive director of the players' association, Meghann Burke, to reassure that the players would receive all their salaries.
This signing, therefore, takes place in a clearly unfavorable context and seems very far from unanimous support.
It seems to be the work of decision-makers unfamiliar with market trends, as it comes months too late to surf on the success of the BAYCs, as was the case at the start of the year.
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