Sorare combined fantasy football with NFT trading cards and got SoftBank to put in $680 million. Then NFT prices crashed in 2022 and users who had spent thousands on Mbappé cards were not happy. Sorare survived, expanded to MLB and NBA, and is still the largest licensed NFT sports game in the world. The crypto winter stress-tested the model and it is still standing.
Founded
2018
HQ
Paris, France
Total Raised
$740M raised
Founder
Nicolas Julia, Adrien Montfort
Status
Active — $4.2B peak valuation, NFT volumes lower than 2021 peak but recovering
Website
sorare.comTHE ORIGIN STORY
Nicolas Julia, a former M&A banker who loved football, saw that fantasy sports and collectible cards were two billion-dollar industries that had never been combined on blockchain. In 2018 he launched Sorare with officially licensed digital football cards — unique, verifiable, tradeable NFTs.
The first licensing deal was with five clubs. By 2021 it had 200+ licensed clubs including Real Madrid, Liverpool, and Bayern Munich.
SoftBank put in $680M at a $4.2B valuation in 2021 — the largest European sports gaming funding round ever.
WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DO
Sorare sells digital player cards — NFTs representing real football (soccer), MLB, NBA, and NFL players. Users build fantasy teams from their card collections and compete in weekly fantasy contests for prizes (including more rare cards and ETH).
Card prices are set by the market: rare cards of top players like Kylian Mbappé can sell for thousands of dollars. Sorare earns revenue from primary card sales (first issue) and a marketplace fee (2.5%) on secondary sales between users.
THE PRODUCTS
Sorare football/soccer fantasy game, Sorare MLB (baseball), Sorare NBA (basketball), Sorare NFL (American football), digital card marketplace
HOW THEY GREW
Sorare expanded beyond football into MLB (baseball), NBA (basketball), and NFL (American football), dramatically increasing its licensing footprint and addressable market. Celebrity investors like Kevin Durant and Serena Williams helped with awareness.
The US market expansion was the strategic priority — American sports fantasy gaming is the world's largest market.
THE HARD PART
The "digital card" market is built on liquidity — cards are only worth what someone will pay for them. When crypto markets collapsed in 2022, NFT trading volume fell 97% across the industry.
Sorare's card prices dropped dramatically. Users who had bought cards at peak prices found their "investments" worth a fraction of what they paid.
Sorare also faced scrutiny from UK regulators who argued its model constituted unlicensed gambling.
MONEY TRAIL
Seed
2019 · Led by Benchmark, Accel
$4M raised
Series A
2020 · Led by Benchmark, Headline
$40M raised
Series B
2021 · Led by SoftBank Vision Fund, Kevin Durant, Serena Williams
$680M raised
WHO BACKED THEM
Benchmark, Accel, Headline, SoftBank Vision Fund, Atletico de Madrid, Kevin Durant, Serena Williams
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