AC Milan, the professional football club, has joined forces with Crossmint, an on-chain financial company specializing in NFTs, to tokenize its iconic San Siro stadium. This innovative collaboration aims to provide fans with new, interactive, and rewarding Web3 experiences.
Fans will be able to purchase fractionalized NFTs representing plots of the San Siro stadium. These NFTs will entitle fans to rewards when specific events occur on their part of the pitch during home matches, such as goals, assists, or yellow cards. These rewards include signed football shirts, VIP experiences, free match tickets, and more.
The partnership, which also involves Polygon Labs and FANBLOCK, aims to address the challenge faced by sports clubs in identifying and effectively rewarding devoted fans. Blockchain technology provides a solution by allowing fans to earn tokens for their interactions across various platforms, helping them build loyalty scores with clubs that can be showcased worldwide. Clubs, in turn, can use these NFTs to enhance fan engagement by offering various privileges.
Crossmint’s fractionalized NFTs play a crucial role in making it easy for fans to redeem these rewards without complex integrations. The club’s partners, including ticketing platforms and streaming services, can also participate. For example, the club’s bar may offer complimentary drinks to engage fans in the midst of the action, enhancing the overall ambiance of the stadium and football matches.
Crossmint has a track record of successful collaborations with prominent sports institutions, including the NBA, MLB, the US Open, La Liga, Wimbledon, and renowned sports figures like Patrick Mahomes. Its user-friendly wallet and seamless NFT minting infrastructure make it an attractive option for Web3 initiatives.
AC Milan has previously ventured into the NFT sphere, collaborating with Web3 e-sports platform MonkeyLeague and signing a multi-year deal with sports NFT pioneer Sorare in 2022.
The partnership between AC Milan and Crossmint represents a significant step in enhancing fan engagement and offering a new dimension to fan experiences in the world of football, thanks to the power of blockchain technology.