In cooperation with the Berlin-based start-up FANZONE, the Bayern Basketball team will in future publish digital trading cards, or so-called "Non-Fungible-Tokens" (NFTs): The first player collection contains 43 motifs of the current squad in various designs and with increasing exclusivity and value. Fans of the FCBB can buy, collect and trade the limited digital cards. FC Bayern Basketball is the first team in the EuroLeague with its own NFT collectibles.
The Bayern Basketball NFTs are available from this Thursday, April 7th, from 18:00. on FANZONE via the web app: https://www.fanzone.io/de/bayern-basketball/. Those who download the FANZONE app in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store can directly buy the first packs and start their own collection. All new FANZONE users will receive a free onboarding pack upon their first registration, giving them five NFT cards right from the start.
NFT owners have a chance to win exclusive FCBB prizes
There will be the digital trading cards in four rarity levels - Common (3,000 pieces), Rare (1,000), Epic (500) and Legendary (100). The cards are spread across three different Card Packs, which contain five to nine cards with different rarity levels. The prices of the different Card Packs vary from 5€ to 30€. Each pack offers a chance to get one of the four categories, with a naturally lower chance of getting rare NFTs.
„"This Club is very special. Not only did it play a vital part in my career, but these people are my sporting family. They have stood by my side after my brain surgery – the club and all of the fans never stopped believing in me. With my close relations to the NBA and my friends who still play in the league, I know great NFTs can be for fans, and I am really happy that my club is now starting an NFT-project of their own."”
NFT owners also have the chance to win exclusive prizes if they have collected their FC Bayern Basketball collection in full by the end of the regular season - including signed jerseys and VIP tickets to FCBB playoff games at the Audi Dome but also Money-Can't-Buy experiences such as a Locker Room tour with FCBB captain Nihad Djedovic or shooting lessons with Andi Obst.
"This Club is very special. Not only did it play a vital part in my career, but these people are my sporting family. They have stood by my side after my brain surgery – the club and all of the fans never stopped believing in me. With my close relations to the NBA and my friends who still play in the league, I know great NFTs can be for fans, and I am really happy, that my club is now starting an NFT-project on their own," said forward, Paul Zipser.
"The cooperation with Fanzone is another exciting step towards innovation at FC Bayern Basketball," says Sebastian Ferschl, Head of Business Strategy. "Our primary goal here is to understand how we can use new technologies at FCBB to further increase fan engagement."
Dirk Weyel, Co-Founder & CEO of FANZONE: "We are very pleased to welcome FC Bayern Basketball, one of the most successful and prestigious German clubs, to our Basketball Zone. FC Bayern stands in basketball like hardly any other club for their visionary goals, some of which have been achieved in a short time. With our NFT collection, we want to give existing and new fans a new engagement tool and the chance to enjoy unique fan experiences."
What are NFTs?
Blockchain technology enables the creation of limited digital objects that cannot be copied or shared. These "non-fungible tokens" guarantee authenticity, rarity, and affiliation of these objects - a unique, digital one-of-a-kind, so to speak. Another advantage is that digital goods on the blockchain are available for life and exist independently of apps and app stores. As a result, fans actually own their collections of rare trading cards and can also benefit from potential increases in value.
FANZONE Media is a start-up from Berlin that develops and operates a next-level fan experience platform where limited digital trading cards are secured as NFTs on the blockchain. On the FANZONE platform and the FANZONE apps for iOS and Android, users can buy, collect and trade these digital collectible cards. In addition, the athletes' digital collectibles can be used in various fantasy game challenges in the future.
Existing partners include the German Football Association, VfL Wolfsburg, SG Flensburg-Handewitt, Brazilian basketball legend Oscar Schmidt and German soccer world champion Andreas Brehme. Many other athletes, teams and associations are to follow in 2022.
Founders Dirk Weyel, Claudio Weck and Björn Hesse bring decades of experience in games, sports marketing and blockchain technology to the table.