Iconic Italian club to become the world’s first professional football organisation to embrace blockchain technology to such an extensive degree
AS Roma and Zytara Labs announced that the companies have signed a €36M ($42M), three-year exclusive product partnership agreement, with support from the DigitalBits Foundation. This partnership further cements the Club’s commitment to technological advancement and will provide innovative and unique opportunities to AS Roma fans around the world.
AS Roma and Zytara Labs will use the DigitalBits blockchain to:
- Create official ASR blockchain based digital assets
- Integrate and accept ASR blockchain based digital assets and XDB as new purchasing methods
- Create digital player cards and digital collectibles (NFTs) capturing current and historical moments in the Club’s near 100-year history in Rome, one of the most iconic cities in the world;
- bring AS Roma into the metaverse, enabling fans to interact with the club in blockchain-based shared virtual worlds;
- reward fans in possession of ASR blockchain based digital assets, XDB and any additional digital collectibles by taking advantage of the latest technology to offer unparalleled live experiences – including, but not limited to, matchday activations from inside the stadium
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AS Roma becomes the world’s first professional football organisation to broadly embrace blockchain technology to this degree. Going forward, the DigitalBits blockchain will be completely integrated with the club, providing a seamless, advanced experience for new users and fans alike.
To commemorate the launch of this partnership, AS Roma will be selling the first eleven jerseys of the 2021-22 season worn by the Giallorossi players during the friendly between Roma and Montecatini, a match that also marked the beginning of the José Mourinho era on the club’s bench.
In addition, 25 commemorative gold rings with the AS Roma crest from a collection of 50 will be available for purchase. The Serie A club, including current players, will receive the other 25 rings from this collection. These items will be available for purchase commencing on July 29, 2021 with the XDB token being a purchasing method.
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All proceeds from these sales will be donated to Roma Cares, a public charity supporting local communities and aiming to foster social solidarity through a range of initiatives in the areas of sport, charity, social care, education, training, as well as the promotion of culture and art.
Guido Fienga, CEO of AS Roma, said: “We could not be more excited to have AS Roma officially join the DigitalBits ecosystem. DigitalBits is a blockchain known for its speed, efficiency, and sustainability: traits that mirror the values of our club and will allow us to deepen the engagement with our fans worldwide in numerous ways.”
The DigitalBits blockchain network is able to process numerous transactions per second (+10,000 TPS), with 3-5 second confirmation times and at low cost (0.00001 XDB per transaction). As concerns regarding energy consumption continue to plague blockchain networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum that leverage a Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm, individuals and organizations alike have begun to search for more environmentally friendly solutions. DigitalBits blockchain nodes are lightweight and can be run for relatively low cost compared to nodes operating within many Proof-of-Work blockchain networks.
As part of this three-year partnership, Zytara Labs becomes a main global partner of AS Roma and, as recently unveiled by New Balance and the club, the DigitalBits brand becomes the primary logo front and center on all jerseys (home, away, third and goalkeeper) for the AS Roma Men’s First Team, Women’s First Team, Primavera and Youth Teams during all league, European, cup and domestic and international friendly matches.
Al Burgio, Founder of Zytara and the DigitalBits blockchain, said: “This historic relationship with AS Roma, one of the most legendary football teams in the world, is transformative, not just for Zytara and DigitalBits, but for the blockchain industry as a whole. AS Roma will be expanding the collective imagination by demonstrating how blockchain technology can be leveraged to elevate the connection between sports teams and their community of fans and other supporters.”
