AS Roma Just Became The World's First Professional Football Organization To Embrace Blockchain Technology In $42M Partnership Deal

Iconic Italian football club, AS Roma just struck a $42 million product partnership deal with support from the DigitalBits Foundation.

In an excitingly new development in the world of sports, AS Roma (ASR) has reportedly become the world’s first major professional football organization to broadly embrace blockchain technology in a 3-year exclusive product partnership agreement with Zytara Labs, valued at $42 million - with the support from the DigitalBits Foundation, according to CoinDesk.

The iconic Italian football club is allegedly the world’s first major sports organization to embrace this technology as deeply as it just announced. Since its establishment in 1927, AS Roma has been considered to be one of the most renowned Italian football clubs in the world, AS Roma has played its home matches at the world-famous Stadio Olimpico - site of the 1990 World Cup final and 1960 Olympic Games.

It is also famous for the world-class players it has brought through its youth system; iconic names like Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi, Agostino Di Bartolomei, and Bruno Conti. The club is owned by The Friedkin Group (TFG), who completed a takeover in August 2020. The men’s first team is managed by Jose Mourinho, one of the most successful and highly-regarded coaches in the history of the sport.

"This historic relationship with AS Roma, one of the most legendary football teams in the world, is transformative, not just for Zytara and DigitalBits, but for the blockchain industry as a whole,” said Al Burgio, Founder of Zytara and the DigitalBits blockchain.

“AS Roma will be expanding the collective imagination by demonstrating how blockchain technology can be leveraged to elevate the connection between sports teams and their community of fans and other supporters."

The DigitalBits Foundation, formerly the XBD Foundation, is a non-profit organization focused on supporting the innovation and adoption of the DigitalBits blockchain - a layer-one blockchain protocol that prioritizes security, speed, and cost-savings. In its mission to help facilitate partnerships and ecosystem development the Foundation is helping to grow the DigitalBits community through the inclusion of diverse regions, using cryptocurrency in enhancing the consumer experience and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

What Fans Can Be On the Lookout For

To commemorate the launch of this partnership, ASR will be selling the first eleven jerseys of the 2021-22 season worn by the Giallorossi players during the friendly between Roma and Montecatini, a match that also marked the beginning of the José Mourinho era on the club's bench.

In addition, 25 commemorative gold rings with the AS Roma crest from a collection of 50 will be available for purchase. The Serie A club, including current players, will receive the other 25 rings from this collection. These items will be available for purchase commencing on July 29, 2021 with the XDB token being a purchasing method.

Going forward, the DigitalBits blockchain will be completely integrated with the Club, providing a seamless, advanced experience for new users and fans alike. This partnership comes as AS Roma further cements the Club’s commitment to technological advancement and will provide innovative, unique opportunities to ASR fans around the world.

The blockchain will allow for any asset to be tokenized in its ecosystem, including branded stablecoins to incentivize consumer loyalty, fan engagement, social tokens, and NFTs created by artists, celebrities, and sports organizations - helping to shape real-world mass adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.

Once official ASR blockchain-based digital assets are created, both ASR and Zytara Labs hope to accomplish the following:

• Integrate and accept ASR blockchain-based digital assets and XDB as new purchasing methods;
• Create digital player cards and digital collectibles (NFTs) capturing current and historical moments in the Club’s near 100-year history in Rome, one of the most iconic cities in the world;
• bring AS Roma into the metaverse, enabling fans to interact with the club in blockchain-based shared virtual worlds; and
• reward fans in possession of ASR blockchain-based digital assets, XDB, and any additional digital collectibles by taking advantage of the latest technology to offer unparalleled live experiences - including, but not limited to, matchday activations from inside the stadium

As a full-service production company and studio, Zytara Labs brings its network of professional athletes, musical artists, actors, gamers, sports teams, and other brands to help with the creation, sales, and marketing of NFTs. Its team also helps develop innovative products and platforms that leverage blockchain protocols, such as DigitalBits and Ethereum.

What’s the Legal?

With Bitcoin growing closer to $40,000 in price, other sports professionals are jumping on board, beginning with the National Football League (NFL), whose players are demonstrating more interest in Bitcoin following Sean Culkin’s decision to be paid in Bitcoin.

Back in April, Kansas City Chiefs’ Sean Culkin became the first NFL player to convert his entire salary to Bitcoin, according to ESPN.

Culkin, who aims to be a viable backup behind Chiefs starter Travis Kelce, would be paid his $920,000 salary by the Chiefs in U.S. dollars, will convert it to Bitcoin.

"I've always had a lot of interest in and a passion for finance and economics from my days at Mizzou," Culkin told ESPN. "Even before that, my dad was big, really bullish on gold. Early on, I was always exposed to his philosophies on what made gold an intractable investment looking at it from a macro perspective. There's a lot of overlap between gold and Bitcoin. I really spent all of my time in the offseason the past year just hearing about this growing space in crypto. It just seemed like it was getting bigger and bigger.”

Culkin has played 19 career NFL games, but stated that this upcoming season would be his first for converting his paycheck to Bitcoin.

"I want to do this with the thought it would continue to rise over the long term," he said. "This for me is a long-term play, a generational play. The more research I did and the more I zoomed out, I didn't necessarily link volatility to risk. I saw Bitcoin was growing at such an exponential rate.

The world of cryptocurrency right now is booming, as other players in addition to Culkin have noticed the growing potential digital money brings to them:

Russell Okung

Veteran offensive lineman Russell Okung announced back in December that approximately half of his 2020 salary from the Carolina Panthers would be converted to Bitcoin.

Trevor Lawrence

Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who seems to likely be the No. 1 overall draft pick, signed an endorsement deal with cryptocurrency investment app Blockfolio back in April of this year. According to the company, Lawrence’s signing bonus would come in the form of cryptocurrency.

However, when it comes to exciting announcements such as AS Roma and DigitalBits, the ability for professional athletes to begin accepting endorsement deals and signing contracts on the contingency that they are paid in cryptocurrency is a game-changer for sports finance.

The potential for blockchain technology and its corresponding projects in sports were significantly disadvantaged prior to Culkins’ decision. More teams and players are getting involved in this space due to the concerns over currency debasement, which are driving NFL players to Bitcoin. This has the potential to re-shape the ways in which these contracts are drawn up, forcing the NFL to educate themselves on the world of DeFi and Bitcoin.

The NCAA's Recent NIL Decision

If nothing else, the recent NCAA decision allowing college athletes to leverage their name, image, and likeness (NIL) by accepting endorsements from brands, monetizing their social media presence, and working with professional firms that help to coordinate these kinds of deals for athletes, is a huge step forward in the world of sports finance - lending more support for athletes turning to new, innovative blockchain and cryptocurrency projects.