A Sports-themed Living In Beta this week - Barcelona Football Club are a household name. We’re talking about some of the greatest players of all time, a historic football powerhouse, and a global brand.

Many clubs, players, and ex-athletes have got on the NFT bandwagon and Barcelona recently launched their first NFT collection - I’m going to talk about:

• What is their first NFT collection

• Why they’ve done it

• What’s next

I can see more teams and players use blockchain technology to interact with their fans in a whole new way, however it can go horribly wrong as fans can view it as solely a seedy money-making scheme.

Let’s get to it!

‘In a Way, Immortal’

Barcelona’s first forway into the NFT space celebrates icon Johan Cruyff through an audio-visual digital art NFT recreating a goal scored against Athletic Madrid in 1973.

The NFT sold for $693,000 at an auction at Sotheby’s in New York on Friday.

In addition to the ownership rights of the NFT, the winner of the auction is also named digital ambassador and can be entitled to other benefits, including access to training sessions.

Why is this interesting?

Blockchain technology enables issuers to attach a whole host of benefits to a smart contract in addition to the primary value - e.g. if I exchange an NFT for ETH, I can attach additional non-monetary utility to the NFT.

Reading the statement from Barcelona:

How was the NFT made?

The NFT is a molten gold animation that was created by a 40-person team of computer graphics and visual effects artists. It’s a 40-second clip accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra, incorporating real sounds from Camp Nou stadium and Barca supporters. Barca worked with strategic technology partner BCN Visuals & Digital Superstudio, who developed the NFT’s cinematographic aesthetic.

Can we expect more clubs to go down this route?

Yes, is the short answer. We’re already seeing other clubs do the same - Liverpool FC launched a set of NFT’s in March 2022.

They partnered up with Sotheby’s Metaverse to auction off ‘legendary’ NFT’s of the players and manager.

I’d put this in the category of…not doing it so well.

Why do you ask?

Well, the art is…really bad.

It looks like they cobbled together what worked on other NFT projects they’ve researched and smushed it together in one image.

It’s fairly easy from my newsletter-writer-stool to criticize, so as an example, this could’ve been something they commissioned a Liverpool-based artist with a deep connection to the club.

They’ve also not created any new IP - they could’ve created something that lived beyond the current crop of players and is more connected to the club.

While they did some good things (e.g. NFT explanation video, Discord setup for the community, supports a charitable foundation etc) - I think these should be table stakes for a brand of this size.

So, what’s next?

I think Barca has done the right thing by partnering with technology partners to accelerate their adoption of new tech, and they also bided their time to see what can fly and what shouldn’t.

With this Cruyff piece, they’ve connected a part of their history with edge-of-the-frontier technology to establish a deeper connection with their fan base. While this is currently a 1/1 piece, there are plans for an additional ten pieces in the pipeline.

Let’s see how they use the smart contract utility to elevate the NFT owner experience.

💬 One Quote

- Anon

📚 Interesting Articles of the Week

🪐 Into the Dataverse

Fascinating article from Ceramic Network on the benefit of Interoperable platforms and how Ceramic is best placed to take advantage of the coming Metaverse data wave.

🦊 Foxtrot is the store that every neighborhood deserves

I hadn’t come across Foxtrot before but was intrigued about the private-label business they’ve been quietly building. I wonder if a similar concept could work in the UK…

🐠 This is Water: Revisiting Social Constructs

One of my favorite writers, Rex Woodbury from Index Ventures, writes about what social norms we don’t think about now, will seem crazy in the future. Part two includes: Driving cars, Fireworks, Eating meat, Frequent travel, Buying items first-hand, Movies in theatres 30+ days and more.

Until next time

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Fahim