Premier League Files for Debuting NFT Marketplace for Summer Series

The world’s most popular football league, Premier League, showed its interest to expand its presence in the crypto and blockchain worlds.

The Premier League filed crypto and NFT-related trademarks to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the logo and name of its pre-season association football-friendly tournament “Summer Series,” Michael Kondoudis, a trademark lawyer, was quoted by Geek Metaverse website as saying.

According to the filing application, the Premier League intends to release NFTs and virtual items such as football shirts, sports equipment, clothing, sports bags, and more. The application also includes launching an online marketplace for crypto collectibles and NFTs in addition to software that enables users to store, transfer, and trade NFTs and cryptocurrencies.

Earlier in January, Premier League signed a multi-year deal with the French blockchain-based fantasy game Soare. Under the agreement, Sorare will integrate the licensed NFTs of the English Premier League, which comprises 20 clubs, into its gaming player characters. Through the four-year agreement, players of Sorare will enjoy buying and using official Premier League-licensed NFTs.

The most-watched sports leagues globally also tapped into the metaverse and adopted the NFTs in June 2022 by filing two trademark applications to USPTO.

“The Premier League is regularly watched by more than a billion people, so the value attached to the brand is substantial. These filings represent a logical step to protect the brand in today’s economy, which includes virtual and crypto elements, and tomorrow’s virtual economy in the metaverse,” Kondoudis said.

Earlier, Premier League champions Manchester City, in partnership with Sony, has begun building a virtual replica of the Etihad Stadium, which will be the team’s central hub in the metaverse.