Sorare has signed a four-year licensing deal with the Premier League, according to a report from Reuters.

❗ Why it Matters

Users will be able to collect Sorare cards from players who play for the Premier League's 20 top-tier teams. Sorare now adds the Premier League to its list of partner leagues that already includes the National Basketball League, Major League Baseball, Spain's LaLiga, Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A.

🔍 The Deets

• Sorare will pay "tens of millions of pounds" for the rights, with the final amounts depending on performance.
• As part of the deal, the Premier League has the option to take equity in Sorare.
• League-specific Premier League contests will be added to the Sorare platform.

🧠 Need to Know

• This is not the Premier League's first web3 partnership.  Tezos had previously signed a sponsorship deal with Manchester United, and several clubs have issued "fan tokens."

🎤 Founder Feedback

Learn More

• Sorare Shares Major Updates to 2023 Product Roadmap
  
• Sorare NBA Introduces Two New Special Competitions

Sorare published a Medium blog this morning that highlighted a number of key gameplay updates for its 2023 football (soccer) product.

❗ Why it Matters

The following updates were made with a goal of improving manager progression and enhancing overall gameplay.

⚽ League-Specific Competitions

• Sorare will support league-specific competitions for the most popular leagues
• This initiative will launch on January 24 for Game Week 30, and supported leagues will include the German Budesliga, Italian Serie A, Spanish LaLiga and first league in France
• These competitions will be available to the Limited tier only
• League-specific competitions allow fans to compete in the leagues they follow and love

👨‍🏫 Draft-Based Onboarding

• Sorare is also introducing a new "draft-based onboarding feature" that allows managers to compete on an even playing field
• During the draft, managers will select 8 players within a 400-point cap with a maximum of two players from the same club
• Some features will be removed from the game, including onboarding Common card packs and daily drops.
• There will be a reset where all Common cards claimed or won before January 27 will no longer have utility and managers will only be able to play with their draft Common cards in competitions moving forward

⏫ Climb The Ladder

• Once a manager has graduated from Common Draft competitions, they're ready to advance to league-specific Semi-Pro competitions
• Semi-Pro competitions require that lineups include at least one Limited card
• From Semi-Pro, a manager can then advance to league-specific Pro 270 contests where only one Common card is allowed with a 270-point cap
• Next, a manager would move to Capped competitions, which include players from all leagues and clubs

🕳️ Go Deeper

• Learn more about the above updates, along with other initiatives like Permanent Kickoff Competitions, new Leaderboards, an updated Manager Homepage and more here.

In both modes, there will be a 120-point cap plus an MVP slot, which does not count against the cap. These two compeitition types are currently scheduled to run for four weeks, beginning with Game Week 23 on Monday, January 2. Learn more here.

Sorare has added NBA support to its Android app, the NFT-powered fantasy sports platform announced today. This brings Sorare's Android app to feature parity with the iOS version in terms of supported sports, as NBA was added to the iOS version of the app in October of this year.

With this update, Android users can manage both Sorare football and basketball squads via the mobile app. Specifically, Android users will be able to create and adjust lineups for upcoming Game Weeks, claim rewards, and track their team's performance while Game Weeks are underway through the app.

Next up on the agenda for the Sorare app team is MLB, which does not yet appear on either the iOS or Android version of the app. Opening Day for the 2023 MLB season will be March 30.

Sorare is adding new weekly competitions to its NBA platform starting on Dec. 16 for Game Week 18, according to a recent announcement from the team. 

The new weekly competitions will include All-Offense and All-Defense contests, where managers build their rosters based on new scoring criteria.

All-Offense scores include points (1 per), assists (1.5 per), rebounds (1.2 per), three-pointers made (1 per + 3 points), double-doubles (1 per), and triple-doubles (1 per).

All-Defense scores include steals (3 per), rebounds (1.2 per), and blocks (3 per).

The schedule for the upcoming contests is as follows:

• Game Week 18 - Friday, Dec. 16
• Game Week 20 - Friday, Dec. 23
• Game Week 21 - Friday, Dec. 26

For more information, see Sorare's official announcement here.

For more information, see Sorare's Medium post here.

Sorare is launching National Series Collections for its upcoming Sorare Global Cup '22 game, the first-ever Sorare collectible challenge, according to a recent Medium article from the team.

National Series cards are special edition digital cards, or NFTs, created only and exclusively for the Global Cup. These cards will never be auctioned or reissued; they can only be won in the Global Cup challenge, purchased on the Manager Sales Marketplace, or traded for via direct offers with other Sorare managers.

In the Global Cup, managers own global football cards and use them to assemble full national team rosters. The game is intended to enhance the collectibility of cards and offer new features to collectors.

Rules, eligibility, and gameplay for the Global Cup are as follows:

• Managers are challenged to complete collections for each of Sorare’s 16 national team partners. The number of cards per team collection varies based on team partnerships.
• Only National Series cards count toward your collection. Club cards do not count.
• The first National Series cards go out as part of Matchday 1 rewards on Friday, Nov. 25.
• National Series cards will have a random serial number from 1 to 2,022 — and come in four different colors — to add another dimension to the collecting experience.
  • Diamond from 1/2,022 to 25/2,022; Gold from 26/2,022 to 125/2,022; Silver from 126/2,022 to 625/2,022; and Bronze from 626/2022 to 2,022/2,022
• There is no deadline for completing collections.

Sorare NBA players can enter special weekly conference-based competitions for Week 10 for their chance at NBA Store gift cards, the fantasy platform tweeted.

The first game starts Friday, Nov. 19 and there will be four weeks of competitions, which will require Common or Limited cards. There is a 120-point cap on the lineups and the MVP does not count against the cap.

Tournament schedule:

• Game Week 10 opens: Friday, Nov. 18 — Western Conference
• Game Week 11 opens: Monday, Nov. 21 — Western Conference
• Game Week 12 opens: Friday, Nov. 25 — Eastern Conference
• Game Week 13 opens: Monday, Nov. 28 — Eastern Conference

In addition to regular card rewards, the top 3 players in Common and Limited for each contest will receive a $150 gift card to the NBA Store. 

Counteroffer functionality is now available for all sports on Sorare's web3 fantasy sports platform, according to an announcement from the platform. 

When receiving a new trade offer on Sorare, a user will now be able to choose "counter" instead of "accept" or "reject." After selecting "counter" users will be able to immediately propose a modified trade package to the original offering party. 

At this time, counteroffers can be made using a combination of player card NFTs or ETH, but they cannot mix sports. For example, a trade proposal for NBA player card NFTs can only be countered with NBA player card NFTs. 

All trade offers and counteroffers can be tracked in the "My Sorare" tab at the top right of the page.