Beijing Guoan Football Club, a professional football team in the Chinese Super League, has taken a major step into the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with the launch of GLEO. This collection of NFTs can be used as avatars in the club’s virtual stadium, set to launch next year.
To celebrate the launch, the football club held a 10-day lottery over the weekend, distributing 10,000 free NFTs to the winners.
The club also plans to mint more NFTs in the future, dubbed “digital collectibles” by the club, as a way to engage with fans and enhance their experience.
The NFTs were issued on China Mobile’s Shucangbao platform, which operates on the Zhong Yi Chain blockchain. China Mobile is a founding member of the Blockchain-based Service Network, a blockchain infrastructure supported by the state.
Other top football clubs around the world, such as FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, have also launched collectibles and fan tokens as a way to increase fan engagement. Barcelona’s first NFT was sold for $693,000 at a Sotheby’s auction in July 2022.
The interest in NFTs and blockchain technology extends beyond football, with NBA Top Shot, a collection of NFTs containing basketball video highlights from the National Basketball Association, ranking seventh in all-time sales according to CryptoSlam.
However, despite the growing trend 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-based concepts.
