Sorare Review (NFT)

Sports betting has long been a favorite pastime of athletics enthusiasts — and nowhere is this more prominent than in the world of fantasy sports. The global fantasy sports market is estimated to grow to a total value of more than $48.6 billion by the year 2027. Blockchain-based platforms like Sorare are leading the way into the future of digital fantasy sports.  

Sorare is a digital fantasy sports platform that allows players to construct their own team of fantasy soccer players from a wide range of international clubs. However, unlike traditional fantasy sports (where you choose players during an initial draft), users can “own” their team by purchasing digital playing cards representing each player. 

These playing cards are tokenized using the Ethereum blockchain and can freely be resold as sports collectables in addition to being used in-game. Tokenization adds a layer of strategy and collectability to this nontraditional betting arena. The tokenization of collectibles is done through non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. NFTs are tokens that hold their own distinct value, unlike typical cryptocurrencies which are interchangeable with each other.

Are you considering opening a Sorare account? Our guide for beginners will help you learn a little more about Sorare, the services it offers, what you can expect to pay for cards and a little more about the company’s customer service and security.

Sorare Services (4.5 Stars)

If you’re a fantasy sports fan, you’ve probably missed a draft pick at some point in your playing career. Sorare uses non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to ensure scarcity on each card and allow players to bid on cards they want to add to their deck. 

Limited Edition Digital Cards

Sorare’s main product is its limited-edition cards, which can be bid on within its marketplace by players interested in adding each card to their deck. Limited-edition cards are officially licensed by the team or club that they represent and are built to the ERC-271 standard. This exclusivity provides each card with provable scarcity, allowing users to sell their NFTs on the Sorare marketplace if they so decide. 

For the 2020-2021 season, there are 3 levels of card scarcity: Unique (one-of-a-kind), Super Rare (10 total copies available), Rare (100 copies available) and Common (unlimited number of copies available).

When you open an account with Sorare, you’ll receive a complimentary pack of common cards to begin building your team. Though these free cards do not have an inherent value, they can be used to play against other rookies and learn about how the game works. You can also use common cards as a base and add in higher-level cards to complete a full deck.

When shopping for these collectibles, you can sort cards currently available for bidding by rarity, club, position, league, price and many additional factors. When you see a card that you like and want to add to your deck, you can bid on it using a credit card or by linking your Ethereum wallet and pay using cryptocurrency. Each card has a limited period that you can bid on it, and bidding ends once the bidding counter expires without a new bid being placed. 

Browse the Sorare bidding marketplace to learn more about the cards that you can currently bid on. 

After bidding on and winning a card auction, you can start using the player and his unique stats in your deck, giving you an edge over other players in the tournament.  

Sorare Marketplace

Thanks to the ERC-271 standard, the cards that you buy retain their exclusivity. Each card retains its own serial number, and you can even view the card from the blockchain. Because cards come with unique sets of stats that can enhance the team you form to play against other players, the cards have an inherent value.

Sorare’s open marketplace allows you to buy and sell cards that have already completed bidding periods. Select cards on the open marketplace have bids equal to more than €2.2 million, attesting to their value among players. 

Sorare’s highest-valued cards are worth millions of euros. 

Player Tournaments 

After creating a deck that you’re confident in, you can put your managing skills to the test in Sorare’s tournament arena. Tournaments are run at various skill levels throughout the week, and the types of cards that can be used in each tournament are limited. This practice prevents users who have full decks of Common cards from being matched up with players who have more powerful and expensive cards.

Players who win tournaments and matches can claim prizes, including:

• Limited edition cards: Unique, Super Rare and Rare cards that can enhance your deck are commonly offered as prizes.
• Ether: High-level tournaments can allow you to earn rewards in Ether, the currency that powers the Ethereum network.  

If you win a prize, it will be automatically transferred to your account. This is important because there is no waiting period—you are adding to your portfolio in the spot. There are other systems out there that make you wait, forcing you to continue playing while not attending to your account. Sorare, then, makes it easier for you to play and grow your earnings without too much extra work.

Sorare Pricing (4 Stars)

Pricing for cards on Sorare varies widely depending on the rarity of the card and demand. When you open an account, you’ll be provided with 4 free Common-grade cards — you don’t need to enter a wallet address or credit card to open your account, and you’ll receive your first “pack” as soon as you verify your email address. On the opposite end of the spectrum, cards on the open marketplace may be priced as high as €2 million.

Neither of these extremes accurately represents general prices on the bidding marketplace. In our review, we found that Rare-grade cards were closing bidding at an average of about €27 each. Super Rare and Unique cards held higher values. 

Security (5 Stars)

NFT technology ensures that any cards that you purchase or win cannot be taken away from you without initiating a transfer on the blockchain. This system helps prevent theft and provides your account with a higher level of security. If your account is compromised, Sorare will automatically lock your account and issue you a personal key to reopen it. Sorare has also recently introduced 2-factor authentication on accounts, which helps ensure that only you are able to access your account information.   

Customer Service (3 Stars)

Sorare currently only offers one method that you can use to contact customer service:

• By email: To get in touch with Sorare’s customer service team by email, send a message to support@sorare.com. The platform requests that you use the email associated with your Sorare account when contacting support to improve response times.

Sorare claims that its typical support ticket has an average turnaround time of 48 hours. In the future, we’d love to see Sorare continue to develop its customer service options and improve response times.    

Sorare Overall Rating (3.5 Stars)

Sorare is a unique platform that allows fantasy sports players to leverage NFT technology to participate in creating strategic fantasy teams to compete against other players. Blockchain technology ensures the rarity and exclusivity of each unique card, and new players can even start playing without spending any money with their free set of cards. While players who aren’t well-versed in international soccer or who don’t have any interest in fantasy sports won’t get much use out of the platform, Sorare can be a fun and exciting way to strategize with other players. 

Sorare vs Competitors

Sorare sets itself apart from other NFT platforms with the following elements.

• Exchange markets: Using Sorare, you're not only able to bid on NFTs — you can also sell your cards when they no longer fit in your deck.
• Gaming elements: Sorare isn’t only an NFT marketplace — it also allows you to use cards you’ve bid on and won against other players in tournament-style matches.
• Rewards in Ether: You can potentially earn rewards in Ether by playing fantasy sports through Sorare, a unique benefit that can potentially offset what you spend building your deck. 
• Support from major gaming brands: mainly ConSensys, Ubisoft and Opta

Sorare Users

The following types of users will likely get the most benefits out of Sorare’s platform:

• Fantasy sports enthusiasts
• Cryptocurrency investors looking for a way to potentially earn more Ether
• Anyone looking for an intersection between officially licensed sports merchandise and NFT-fueled scarcity

Frequently Asked Questions