BSC Young Boys will start selling digital trading cards next week. Exactly 1,500 pieces will be available via the club’s very own online shop.
BSC Young Boys are the first football club in the world to launch an NFT collection via their own shopify online shop. The digital trading cards will be available for purchase from 17 November. There are 50 animated cards of each of the 30 players in the squad, i.e. 1,500 in total.
Reto Steffen, CDO of Young Boys, on the sale via their own online shop: “One of the keys to the successful sale of digital objects in the crypto world is easy access, i.e. easy payment. If the customer first has to install a wallet, then buy crypto or transfer it from another platform, there are many sales cancellations. Too cumbersome, too complicated.In the secondary market it’s a bit different, then one is already a bit familiar with the matter. We tested different platforms for over a year, but we always stuck with the storefront. We already have the storefront in our merchandising and now we can also sell NFT there. We are super happy.”
The cards will be priced at 98 Swiss francs (about 93 Euro cents) per bundle of three. Once primary sales are completed, the cards can be traded on an in-house trading platform. The YB NFTs can be paid for by credit card, PostFinance card or Twint, and the prior purchase of cryptocurrencies is not required.
Wanja Greuel, CEO of the Swiss club: “We are taking this step because we are convinced that the passion of football fans for collecting will also spread into the digital world. Thanks to NFTs, unique, limited originals can now be distinguished from interchangeable copies, just like in real life. That’s why this will not remain a one-off action, further NFT collections are already in the pipeline.”
The project is being implemented with the Canadian IT agency Mint, which has already realised a renowned NFT project with the Chicago Bulls.
Reto Steffen on the medium- and long-term goals in the field of NFT: “Gather experience, improve the offer, expand depending on demand. To offer our interested fans easy access to these media, to mediate. Support mass adaptation. Pick up new generations for the future.”
And looking at the expected demand: “We have a total of 1,500 cards on offer. We really have no idea what the demand will be. It’s like with our fan tokens, uncharted territory. But we have already received a lot of positive feedback and, of course, also critical voices, which must also have their place.”
