A very striking event during the past few years has been the rapid rise of the NFT. From initially being a marginal thing that left most people either confused or disinterested, non-fungible tokens are now highly coveted items by many.
That rise in demand has led to more and more individuals and industries getting involved in the production of NFTs. Everyone from pop singers to sports stars and teams are now selling NFTs to their armies of fans.
Football ones are popular because the game of football is a global one now. Interest in the upcoming European Championships is not limited to Europe, with people all over the world checking out the Euro 2024 odds.
That worldwide engagement translates into a large customer base for football products like exclusive NFTs. This can be seen in the prices that some of them are attracting.
In this article we will break down the most valuable football related NFTs that there are on the market.
Lionel Messi: The Golden One
Lionel Messi is the epitome of the modern football star and global brand name, so it will surprise few that an NFT featuring him is the most valuable. The initial reserve price for the Golden One NFT – which is part of a collection named ‘Messiverse’ – was $50,000.
However a bidding war for it began after its launch and that pushed the price up to $1,128,815. Aside from the appeal of Messi himself, another element of this that helped to drive interest was the artist behind it.
Bosslogic is a critically acclaimed figure who has worked for Marvel Studios, among other high profile clients.
Erling Haaland: Unique Sorare
Haaland is one of the current superstars of football. He is the main man up front for both Premier League title winners Manchester City and Norway, so an NFT with his image was always going to be a valuable item.
So it proved to be, as the one with his face on it produced by Sorare easily eclipsed all of its other items when it went up for sale. The eventual selling price for it was $687,000, back in January of 2022.
With Haaland being just 23 years old, he is only starting his career at the top and this NFT sale dates back to before he arrived in English football. The chances are that the price would be higher still if it came up for sale again now that he is a bona fide Premier League star.
Cristiano Ronaldo: Unique Sorare
Ronaldo is often considered to be the main rival to Messi when it comes to choosing the greatest of all time. That means he will not be happy to see his NFT ranked below that of his competitor in the value listings, but it was still a sought after item.
Produced once again by Sorare, it featured Ronaldo in his Juventus kit. These Sorare NFTs are designed to look like the old football trading cards or stickers that people collected in the past.
That is because Sorare is actually a fantasy football game that uses the NFTs as representations of the players that can be bought and sold. The eventual price of this was $265,275, which was enough to make it the third most costly football NFT to date.
Kevin De Bruyne: Unique Sorare
Next on the list is another NFT from the Sorare collection, this time the one for Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian is widely viewed as the finest creative midfield player on the planet right now and that is reflected in the amount of demand that there was for this token.
When it came up for sale in 2022, it went for the price of $167,469, which adds up to 52 ETH in cryptocurrency terms. It is another that can be used in the digital Fantasy Football game and that – alongside De Bruyne’s attractions as a player – may have contributed to the selling price.
Mohamed Salah: Wrapped Strikers
Mohamed Salah has been a star performer for Liverpool throughout the Jurgen Klopp era. He is also the most famous Muslim footballer in the world.
That gives him a unique edge and it likely helped to drive the price of his NFT in the Wrapped Strikers range up to $141,560. This series was the first set of NFTs to be based on football and only seven of the Salah ones were created, which would also have contributed to interest levels.
It sold in the wake of the Egyptian scoring three times against Manchester United too. Never underestimate the impact of that sort of publicity when you are launching a product.
Football NFTs are on the rise, with MasterCard recently launching a new Champions League game that involves them, so this list will change.
