FC Barcelona Ends Partnership After 2 Weeks With NFT Marketplace Ownix
The non-fungible token (NFT) market has grown fast in recent months, and been adopted in various sectors, such as music, food, and sports.
FC Barcelona announced earlier this month a partnership with NFT marketplace Ownix to mint the Club’s NFTs. This partnership was, however, short-lived as FC Barcelona on Thursday ended the deal only 2 weeks after the announcement. The termination came just a few days before the Club’s first NFT collection auction was scheduled on the platform.
The La Liga club deal termination followed the arrest of Israeli crypto mogul Moshe Hogeg, the owner of the football club Beitar Jerusalem, who has ties to Ownix.
The police arrested Hogeg on suspicion of involvement in an alleged massive fraud related to cryptocurrencies. They arrested him along with seven other people. Hogeg’s legal counsel, however, reportedly denied the allegations.
FC Barcelona subsequently announced that it was terminating its deal with Ownix, citing reasons against the Club’s values, saying:
“In light of information received today that goes against the Club’s values, FC Barcelona hereby communicates the cancellation of the contract to create and market NFT digital assets with Ownix with immediate effect.”
In response to this announcement by FC Barcelona, Ownix took it to Twitter to announce that it had terminated its deal with Hogeg to provide consultation services. And that Hogeg himself requested the termination. The company also denied having any connection to Hogeg’s arrest. And it further mentioned that Hogeg did not own any shares in the company.
The football club’s deal with Ownix was to allow fans to buy digital certificates of authenticity for virtual items linked to the Barcelona FC’s history. It also provided a new way for the Club to reach its followers globally. The NFTs are based on photos and videos from the Club’s 122-year history.
NFT & Sports
Global interest in non-fungible tokens has never been higher, even as google searches for NFT reached new highs this past week. Sports teams across the world are also buying into the hype exploring NFTs. For them, it is a means of generating income and raising fan engagement.
NFTs in sports are used to celebrate the life of icons like Baseball legend Willie Mays. About a month ago, the Costacos Collection released a collection in celebration of the icon’s 90th Birthday.
NFTs also preserve precious moments like Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal celebration. A few weeks ago, Ibrahimovic became the first player to have a goal celebration turned into an NFT minted live during a sports event.
In August, soccer legend Lionel Messi also launched his collection of NFTs.
