The move will allow clubs and federations to make and market their own collectibles and merchandise to fans, thus further boosting engagement.
FIFA is to make its digital platform project for selling and marketing collectibles available for federations and football clubs.
The news was revealed at a recent future of football and Web 3.0 event in Monte Carlo.
This means clubs will be able to make and market their own collectibles for various teams, using cutting edge technology provided by the FIFA Plus Collect platform. It is intended to help clubs and federations significantly boost engagement with football fans, as well as explore new marketing and sponsorship avenues.
Football fans may see this as an exciting and innovative new way to express their support for teams and participate in their highs and lows.
FIFA Connect+ was launched in September 2022, enabling fans to collect several FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup digital collectible items. This includes imagery and art from World Cup games, as well as the most exciting game moments.
The platform also has a range of limited-edition and exclusive collections and was initially launched in English, Spanish and French. However, a number of other languages are expected to follow. Since its launch, the platform has also seen several non-fungible token (NFT) drops.
New and exclusive collections have also been launched to celebrate specific events, such as the FIFA Club World Cup Saudi Arabia 2023, which saw about 900 new collectibles being launched.
When the platform first went live in September 2022, FIFA chief business officer Romy Gai said in a statement: “Fandom is changing and football fans around the world engage with the game in new and exciting ways.
“This exciting announcement makes FIFA collectibles available to any football fan, democratising the ability to own a part of the FIFA World Cup. Just like sports memorabilia and stickers, this is an accessible opportunity for fans around the world to engage with their favourite players, moments and more on the new platforms.”
Regarding the platform being open to clubs and federations, Francesco Abbate, CEO of Modex, the Web3 powerhouse behind Fifa+ Collected platform said in a statement: “With this new extraordinary feature, FIFA Plus collect becomes the ultimate home for football fans who wish to own unique pieces of history from the Club and national team they support.
“Not just videos, but every kind of unique collectible that teams create on the platform.”
Coming up with new fan engagement models and avenues to attract and retain supporters has been a hurdle for football clubs in the past few months and is expected to continue being so in the near future as well.
Football clubs are increasing turn to social media platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp as a way of attracting and retaining supporters and to drive up engagement and connect better with existing and long-time fans.
