Arsenal announce a league first deal

Arsenal have become the very first Premier League side to sign a sponsorship and licensing deal with Unagi, the makers of the NFT-driven fantasy football game, Ultimate Champions.

The long-term deal will provide Unagi with a range of sponsorship assets, including LED signage at the clubs’ Emirates stadium and a logo presence on backboards for media interviews around home matches.

Meanwhile, the club’s supporters can play the cross-league game choosing players from the Arsenal squad, or other Unagi-affiliated teams, using wide-ranging statistics from Stats Perform. The brand is building up a portfolio of clubs but has yet to release details of other teams in the game.

The free-to-play game allows players to build teams with ‘real world players’ and earn rewards based on how the players perform. Players can also earn in-game currency and purchase digital player card NFTs of their teams that can be kept as collectibles or can be sold.

Commenting on the agreement via arsenal.com, Juliet Slot, Arsenal’s chief commercial officer, said: “Unagi’s Ultimate Champions represents the next generation of fantasy football gaming. We’re privileged to be the only Premier League club to join the free-to-play game and bring this brilliant concept to our supporters around the world, giving them the opportunity to apply their global football knowledge and test themselves as a football manager.”

Remi Pellerin, chief executive at Unagi, added: “Arsenal’s young crop of players is perfectly suited to our innovative fantasy game: users will be able to scout for young talent, collect their favourite players’ digital cards, and play with them every week.

“The value of these cards will evolve over time in line with the real performances of each Arsenal player – just like in any fantasy game. Except in Ultimate Champions, you get to keep the cards you collect and play with them season after season.”

The Ultimate Champions Beta is currently available to play on the Polygon Technology mainnet, a cryptocurrency and blockchain scaling platform.