NFTs continue to be a trend in the sports industry. In an area where fan engagement is a key metric, it’s no surprise that more sports clubs have decided to jump on the NFT bandwagon. In football, major clubs like Manchester City and Liverpool have launched their official NFT collection. Now, local football club PSS Sleman is looking to follow suit.
The Yogyakarta-based club recently announced the launch of its first official NFT collection, Elja Warrior of Sembodoverse, consisting of 10,000 unique PFP NFTs. The name is derived from the club’s nickname, Super Elang Jawa (Super Elja), and the eagle character represents the club’s mascot, a Javan hawk-eagle named Falcao.
PSS Sleman’s NFTs run on the Polygon blockchain, with low gas fees being one of the main selling points. PSS Sleman already did a whitelist-only pre-sale session on May 20, and around one-tenth of the total supply had already been minted on OpenSea at the time of writing. A public sale is scheduled for May 29, with a mint price set at 16.49 MATIC for each Elja Warrior of Sembodoverse NFT.
Through this NFT initiative, PSS Sleman certainly has high hopes to drive fan engagement and attract the younger generation. The club has prepared some utilities and benefits for each NFT holder, starting from a special discount for home match tickets and merchandise at official stores, to special access to the team’s VIP lounge.
Also listed as a benefit is a special discount for in-game purchases in an online game. While the team hasn’t revealed which game it would be, there is a plan to make an online game as the next step in the broader Sembodoverse Project by PSS Sleman. On top of that, PSS Sleman will also hold an exclusive raffle for holders with prizes ranging from limited edition e-money cards and Elja Warrior mascot, to limited edition signed jerseys by players of the team.
If the project goes smoothly, PSS Sleman could set up a precedent for other Indonesian football clubs to follow, as this is the first time a local club has released an NFT collection. It’s worth noting that there is already an NFT collection named Baliverse that has an affiliation with Bali United FC, but is not directly tied to the club like this one.
Via: Liputan6.
