Argentine Football League Partners with Metaverse Following World Cup Victory

Argentina's Football Association (AFA) has announced a partnership with metaverse platform Upland following the country's recent World Cup triumph in Qatar. This marks the first foray into the metaverse for the country's professional football league, the Liga Profesional de Fútbol (LPF), through an official licensing agreement between the AFA and Upland.

Under the terms of the deal, the AFA will bring the LPF into Upland's metaverse platform, enabling enhanced fan engagement between Argentine football fans, teams, and players. Gamified opportunities will include a variety of digital collectibles, including teams, clubs, players, tickets, highlights from games, historical moments, and other exclusive offers. The partnership also represents a first for Upland, as it will offer exclusive ownership of highlight videos of moments from LPF matches. The sale of various non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is expected to provide the Argentine top-flight league with a new source of income as users buy, sell, and trade licensed digital assets.

In addition to the digital collectibles, Upland will also provide users with the opportunity to start virtual businesses, allowing them to resell LPF digital collectibles in user-owned and operated shops located on virtual properties. Upland's metaverse platform is focused on creating a digital version of the world, with the goal of offering digital land ownership, asset creation, and a virtual economy.

The world of sports, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain have become increasingly intertwined in recent years. Formula 1 filed trademarks for NFT and cryptocurrency-powered goods and services in August 2022, while teams such as McLaren and Red Bull Racing explored their own Web3 and NFT offerings. Fan token platform Socios has continued to grow in popularity this year, and cryptocurrency exchange OKX has expanded its marketing efforts through a sponsorship deal with current English Premier League champions Manchester City. Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo also entered the world of Web3 through an exclusive partnership with Binance to roll out a series of NFT collections in a multi-year deal.