Published on: 11/11/2022

Professional Fighters League to develop PFL MMA metaverse

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has partnered with the sports NFT platform SportsIcon to develop the PFL MMA metaverse.

“SportsIcon is a leading Web3 innovator dedicated to the sport,” SportsIcon co-founder and COO Alexi Yovanoff said.

Yovanoff said that the company’s purpose was to bring people closer to their favorite sports through NFTs and its Sports Metaverse. He added that SportsIcon was thrilled to be collaborating with the PFL, a forward-thinking organization with the mission to shape the future of MMA for fans, fighters and brands.

“We are thrilled to get going and bring the best of Web3 to the PFL family,” he said.

SportsIcon has collaborated with the world’s most prominent athletes to create sports NFTs. The platform develops the Sports Metaverse with industry leaders such as Sony, Playstation Home, Doom and Nvidia. There, players can trade NFTs, buy and develop land, interact with iconic athletes in 3D and visit stadiums.

SportsIcon also launched the Future Icons Program last month to support athletes. It uses NFTs and smart contracts to provide financial support for athletes. When athletes reach the professional level, their supporters’ investments will be repaid as a percentage of the athletes’ earnings. The supporters of the platform include the rapper-turned-investor Nas, blockchain company Dapper Labs, Axiom Zen CEO Roham Gharegozlou, YouTube CEO Chad Hurley, venture capital firm Elefund and ex-NBA legend Andrew Bogut.

Professional Fighters League

The PFL will celebrate its entry into the metaverse with the 2022 PFL Championship (PFL 10), which will take place on November 25 in New York City.

“I am excited to announce the Professional Fighters League is partnering with industry leader SportsIcon to create the PFL’s innovative MMA Metaverse experience for fans around the world,” PFL CRO Jon Tuck said.

“The PFL’s new Metaverse platform will drive increased fan engagement as well as provides league sponsors with organic activation opportunities within this new and interactive space.”

The PFL is the first and only MMA league with an actual sports-season format, attracting the best fighters across the world to participate in a Regular Season, Playoffs, and Championship. It has 25 percent of its fighters independently ranked among the world’s top 25.

The four competitors in each of the divisions with the most points at the end of the regular season can advance to the win-or-go-home Playoffs. After that, they can participate in the PFL World Championship, with each winner receiving a $1 million prize.

PFL also recently built an NFT marketplace with Mercury. Fans can purchase, sell and trade PFL-inspired digital collectibles on the platform using credit cards or cryptocurrency.

“The marketplace will serve as an integral part of the PFL community and accentuates our strategy to leverage blockchain technology to build deeper engagement with our global fanbase,” PFL CEO Peter Murray said.

As the primary MMA competitor of the UFC, the league has over 600 million fans worldwide with live event coverage in 160 countries on top distribution channels such as ESPN and ESPN+ Channel 4, RMC Sport, DirecTV, Eurosport, Sky Sports and others.

The league also has been growing its sponsorship scope recently, signing contracts with Sugar23, Socios and DraftKings, among others.