The final of the Italian Cup tokenized and sponsored by a cryptocurrency platform

Lega Serie A and Crypto.com have closed a partnership agreement that will be staged on the occasion of the 2021 Italian Cup Final between Atalanta and Juventus on 19 May at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia. This is the first sponsorship agreement between a football league and a cryptocurrency platform and NFT. Luigi De Siervo, CEO of Serie A said: “We are extremely proud to announce our collaboration with Crypto.com, one of the leading companies in the cryptocurrency and NFT sector. We are the first football league in the world to sign an agreement with this new market – which is hugely innovative and relevant not only to the fans, but also to other world-class leagues such as the NBA. Serie A aims, through this operation, to broaden its audience and to the international growth of the brand. (…) The Italian Cup Final will be an opportunity to offer fans all over the world an experience not only on the pitch, but also before and after the match, thanks to the marketing initiatives that we will organize with our partners “. For its part, Crypto.com adds: “Through this partnership we will bring together the best of blockchain technology and the world of football, creating NFTs that will certainly become highly sought-after classics and collectibles”. To celebrate the first time that Atalanta and Juventus meet in a Coppa Italia final, a special NFT collection will be created that will include the official trophy, match highlights and more.The reality of the fan token for sports clubs is not, however, an absolute novelty. Just to stay in Italy, Juventus itself, together with other teams, is part of the Chiliz / Socios project: Chiliz tokens are a cryptocurrency used in the Socios.com app to buy Fan Tokens, in turn digital assets protected by blockchain technology that give the right to vote in team polls. Even individual players like Cristiano Ronaldo have for some time developed personal and original Non Fungible Tokens: one of these, the Unique version card, that is, issued in a single copy for the 2020/2021 season in the Juventus shirt, was beaten at the auction for $ 290,000. This purchase makes Cristiano Ronaldo Unique 20-21 the most expensive football trading card ever, but also the most expensive sports NFT in the world, at least for the moment.