It was a busy, but mild week in sports and crypto engagement – with Socios and it’s subsidiary Chiliz dominating the headlines with major news. Meanwhile, NFTs continued to carry the dialogue as a new marketplace, RareMint, swiftly sold out of Lou Gehrig and Michael Jordan collections, and Fanatics signing a new deal with NFTs at the forefront.

Every Sunday we cover the past week’s worth of crypto and sports action. As we close the books on the first quarter of the year, let’s review the past seven days of activity.

The Sports Slice

Socios Secures Deal With Lionel Messi, Chiliz Launches Layer-1 Testnet ‘Chiliz Chain 2.0’

Easily the dominant headline of the week was a new deal from Socios, signing a major sports ambassador in legendary footballer Lionel Messi. It’s easily Socios biggest athlete deal since inception, as the sports fan token firm locked in a three-year, $20M dollar agreement. To date, the firm has taken primarily a club-focused approach, pairing up with some of the biggest teams in European football.

Messi made a splash last year when he shifted from his long-time club of Barcelona to PSG, taking some PSG fan tokens with him in the process. The news wasn’t the only buzz around Socios this week, however.

Socios subsidiary Chiliz launched it’s Scoville Testnet this week as well, it’s newly created layer-1 chain dubbed ‘Chiliz Chain 2.0.’ Mainnet is expected by the end of the year. The move signals a major shift from being an Ethereum-based chain to a Binance Smart Chain-based one. Chiliz envisions the move as one that provides scalability and versatility solutions.

Steph Curry The Face Of New FTX Campaign

After adding tennis superstar Naomi Osaka to the roster last week, FTX is back for more this week, launching their latest ad campaign with the NBA’s 3-point specialist Steph Curry. While Curry rehabs to get back on the floor with the Golden State Warriors in advance of their upcoming playoff appearance, he’s making moves off the floor as well.

New Marketplace RareMint Sells Out Lou Gehrig And Michael Jordan NFTs

New NFT marketplace RareMint kicked off it’s beta launch with a bang. RareMint was host to two new sports collectibles that were bound to catch sports fans eyeballs: a 1930 Lou Gehrig home run ball, signed by Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, and a 1989-1990 Michael Jordan game-worn jersey. The NFTs represent digital ownership of physical assets, with RareMint running third-party audits every quarter for transparency with investors. RareMint distributes tokens on Ethereum as well as Polygon and Arbitrum, and seemingly has much more in the works.

Related Reading | NFTs In A Nutshell: A Weekly Review

Chiliz is a routine name in The Sports Slice, and is back for more this week with a headline-smashing deal with legendary football star Lionel Messi. | Source: CHZ-USD on TradingView.com

Michigan Wolverines The Latest To Dive Into NIL With New Deal With BlockPack

Name, image and likeness (NIL) deals with collegiate athletes were booming last year when things started to really kick off in the space. While headlines have settled down a bit as brands work through realistic expectations and potential ROI, there’s still been plenty of action for collegiate athletes to begin monetizing their brand and earn some hard-earned extra bucks off the field of play (with both crypto and non-crypto firms, of course).

The latest crypto-endemic firm to enter the space hit the headlines this week, courtesy of a new deal with the Michigan football team. BlockPack is an NFT firm creating marketplaces specifically for college sports fans, taking images provided directly from athletes to host on the market. Athletes will receive 80% of the proceeds from NFT sales. The University has not commented on the engagement, and limited details around the potential partnership have not been disclosed.

Fanatics New Deal With WWE 

Fanatics is easily the leading merchandise firm in sports apparel; the company dominates the market with near monopoly-esque stature. The latest deal for Fanatics this past week? A long-term partnership with the WWE. The deal includes e-commerce and licensed merchandise that encompasses physical and digital merchandise, and yes, of course – NFT trading cards. Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin has shown aggressive intent in the NFT space, becoming a founding partner in Candy Digital – which will serve a role in the new WWE deal alongside fellow subsidiaries Fanatics Commerce and Fanatics Collectibles.