KK Crvena zvezda, adidas and Authena have enabled their fans to become the first in the world of sports to become owners of unique NFTs associated with the original jerseys of the club they love!
The Red and Whites have become the first basketball club in Europe and the world that will allow fans to get authentic, phygital jerseys of their favorite players. Namely, the jerseys that the players will wear starting with the match with Panathinaikos (on October 13) have their “digital twin” in the form of a digital asset, the now well-known NFT.
To clarify, from the first Euroleague game in the new season, all red and white fans and basketball fans will have the opportunity to buy a unique KK Crvena zvezda NFT and, based on it, become owners of an authentic and original physical jersey, worn by the basketball players in the first part of the Euroleague season. After a designated match in January 2023, it will be the players themselves who will hand over their shirts to the token holders. The original adidas jersey, which will have its NFT digital twin, will be available on the “OpenSea” platform, and all those interested will be able to buy them by paying with “crypto currency”, which has already become a completely legal and legitimate payment method around the world.
In order to bring the digital world closer to the growing population of our fans inside and outside the country, KK Crvena Zvezda will be available to facilitate the entire registration and purchase process from start to finish with explanations and illustrations of the process.
The marketing director of the Crvena zvezda basketball club, Janko Stanković, points out how important the support of the fans is in this segment as well, which has already been proven and shown in many ways when it comes to KK Crvena zvezda:
“The loyalty of Crvena Zvezda fans is well known on a global level as well. This project aims to repay them for their support and loyalty, but also to enable something completely different and new. For years, we have been trying to ensure that our fans get much more from the club than just a sense of belonging. We improve their experience in the hall, but also outside it. Now we want to take advantage of the Web3 technology revolution and provide our fans with added value, unprecedented in the world of sports. We owe a lot of gratitude to the company Authena, which recognized the work of our club and decided to start this new sports chapter with our club, and we also thank our partners from adidas, who recognized the potential of the idea and decided to support us. ”
Become a part of the future of Crvena zvezda, the first club allowing fans to get unique jerseys, which are actually much more than signed game-worn shirts!
Each shirt in fact will have its own identical NFT replica in the form of an authentic adidas KK Crvena zvezda jersey, and the digital and physical jersey will be connected via the NFC tag present on each individual jersey. Knowing that only 32 authentic jerseys will be auctioned (one home and one away shirt per player), and knowing the level of demand for unique NFTs on digital markets, it is clear that the value of Zvezda’s jerseys will be high. In addition to the reselling potential, the winners of the auction will also receive additional benefits. After the match against Barcelona (December 30), when the players will wear the jersey with the NFC tag for the last time, an event will be organized in January, and each player will ceremoniously hand over the jersey to the owner of the NFT, on the day of the match with Real Madrid.
The players will wear jerseys from the first Euroleague match, where each serial number of the jersey will be the same one that will be digitally entered into each unique NFT. The owner of the NFT will be 100% sure that it is exactly that jersey, which will be confirmed by the contactless reading of the NFC tag, which is inside the jersey itself, which will connect the physical jersey to its digital NFT counterpart . The auction of the jerseys will be conducted through OpenSea.io, the world’s most famous platform for trading digital assets, which allows the digital ownership registered in the NFT to be the guarantor of the authenticity of the jersey, which will be delivered in the future.
In order to fully ensure the simplicity and security of the auction and possession of “phygital” jerseys for its fans, KK Crvena zvezda partners with Authena, one of the world leaders in the verification and authentication of physical assets with blockchain digital technology.
Authena is the world’s leading provider of authenticity and traceability as a serviceTM creating direct-to-consumers communication. Founded and Headquartered in Switzerland, the company brings to Sports Collectibles the experience and quality standards of fighting counterfeiting, parallel imports and detour of pharmaceutical products.
Sports Memorabilia are valuable assets for clubs and federations but only when authenticity is guaranteed to fans and collectors even beyond the initial sale.
Authena patented technologies create a unique tamper-proof connection between a physical object and its digital certificate of ownership, immutably recorded on blockchain. This pairing follows the secondary trades. The physical item becomes an authenticated, direct and personalized communication channel, making the fans’ experience even more immersive and engaging.
“We are happy to partner with one of the most successful clubs in Europe. KK Crvena Zvezda has won 22 National league titles and it is the only club which has produced 4 players in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Hall of Fame. KK Crvena Zvezda fans will be pleased and younger fans will be excited to discover the benefits of this first collection and we look forward to this collaboration which will make the fans’ experience more immersive and authentic ” added Authena CEO, Matteo Panzavolta.
KK Crvena zvezda mts is in many ways the leader of new trends in Serbian basketball, on and off the court. That’s why it’s completely natural for the red and whites to be the first in a new trend that is increasingly popular in the world, with the great support of its partners.
” Innovations and new technologies are an integral part of adidas’ strategy, and that is why we are pleased to be part of this interesting and creative project. We are sure that the interest will be great, because fans of basketball and Red Star will be able to get authentic jerseys, both in the virtual world and physically ,” said Tatjana Stojković, brand communication manager of adidas.
Crvena zvezda and adidas continue with innovative and different actions, as befits the reputation of the brands. In the coming days, fans will receive detailed instructions on how to participate in this campaign, how to buy, the price, as well as a list of all the benefits that the lucky owners of phygital jerseys will be able to count on.
*phygital jersey: a mix of the NFT jersey, available on a specially designed page, with numerous additional contents that will be provided by the creative team of KK Crvena zvezda and the physical adidas KKCZ jersey, which the players wear in all Euroleague matches, and which the players will sign after the match with Barcelona. as a gift to the owners of the NFT digital collection of KK Crvena zvezda.