Beijing Guoan Football Club, a professional soccer team playing in the Chinese Super League, has entered the world of NFTs with the launch of GLEO.
The NFT collection can serve as avatars in the club’s upcoming virtual stadium. To mark the launch, the club held a 10-day lottery, giving away 10,000 NFTs to winners. The club also plans to mint more NFTs in the future, known as “digital collectibles,” to connect with fans.
The NFTs were released on China Mobile’s Shucangbao platform, which uses the Zhong Yi Chain blockchain. China Mobile is a founding member of the state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network.
Other top football clubs, such as FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, have also created collectibles and fan tokens to boost fan engagement. Barcelona’s first NFT was sold for $693,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in July 2022.
NFTs and blockchain technology are not just popular in football, with NBA Top Shot, a collection of NFTs featuring highlights from the National Basketball Association, ranking 7th in all-time sales, according to CryptoSlam.
Despite the growth of NFTs and metaverse-related products in China, the country’s market regulator has issued a warning about illegal fundraising activities related to these blockchain concepts.
