Major League Soccer Launches Battle Series NFT Project

The NFT game is hot and the number of sports that have introduced themselves into the virtual realm continues to rise as of late.

Major League Soccer is one of the newest ones to make the leap as the United States’ premier futbol association teams up with Secret Walls and Bitski to release its first NFT collection in an effort to promote this weekend’s huge matchups around the league.

The 2021 MLS season has kicked off to a fast start and this weekend will continue the excitement as the Portland Timbers take on the LA Galaxy Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on ABC followed by the Seattle Sounders meeting Atlanta United on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX,

MLS’ NFT initiative aims to combine soccer and street art culture as fans have the opportunity to watch a number of talented artists showcase their skills against one another ahead of this weekend’s games.

Fans can tune in on Friday, May 21 at 6 p.m. ET via bitski.com/MLSxSecretWalls to watch artists representing each of the four clubs compete over the course of 60 minutes to create a digital masterpiece that will be auctioned off.

Once completed, the pieces will be available at auction for 48 hours on Bitski’s website. A portion of the proceeds from the NFT launch will go to Aerial.is, which will help offset carbon emissions.

"We're thrilled to partner with Major League Soccer and Secret Walls to bring this unique experience that intersects sports, art, and technology," said Donnie Dinch, CEO of Bitski. "We love it when we're able to use NFTs to bring communities together."

Secret Walls, one of the leading underground battle art experts, has summoned Mighty Short (Portland Timbers), Aaron Kai (LA Galaxy), Kyler Martz (Seattle Sounders) and Paper Frank (Atlanta United) to compete in the competition.

MLS’ unique gameday experience over the weekend will also feature limited edition matchday posters that fans can purchase during the 90 minutes in which their team’s games are being played on Saturday or Sunday.

Each artist has helped create an original NFT gameday poster for the respective team they’re representing and the posters will be unlimited throughout the length of each match.

MLS hopes this can be a starting point for its entry into the NFT space and will be looking at more opportunities to create these types of projects in the future.

“The special NFT art collection is the latest evolution of Major League Soccer’s commitment to celebrating the creativity in our sport and the permission to connect soccer with progressive and exciting art experiences,” said Chris Schlosser, MLS SVP of Media. “The live art battle, plus the modern take on a matchup poster, helps create a cultural moment that celebrates our League, and the two great MLS matches this weekend.”