Pink Sponsor for a Pink Club?

Inter Miami, a rapidly growing Major League Soccer (MLS) club, is dotted with stars. Their manager, football legend David Beckham, has signed some of the world's top players like Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. Majority of its fan base is Spanish-speaking and they are followed throughout the LATAM region.

They have recently signed a new main sponsor, Royal Caribbean, and the details of the deal are still unknown. Yet, the previous shirt sponsor XBTO paid around 5,000,000 USD for the annual sponsorship. Compared to a 30 second ad in the Super Bowl (7,000,000 USD), that’s a bargain! Five million definitely sounds like a lot but it’s not even 1.5% of the Polkadot treasury.

Polkadot could strive to become the main sponsor in 2025, helping Inter Miami to make blockchain technology work for them, and make a bold statement to capture global attention.

Benefits

• Brand Recognition: A large-scale sponsorship deal would put Polkadot in front of millions of football fans worldwide. The playful pinkness would be the unifying factor between the two brands.
• Community Engagement: Polkadot-based Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) could be used to create unique fan experiences, fostering loyalty and engagement.
• Web3 Innovation: Polkadot's blockchain technology could be integrated into the club's infrastructure, creating new opportunities for ticketing, merchandise, and exclusive content sales.

There are many possible uses for blockchain technology in sports. These are the most obvious ones:

• Fan Tokens: Fans could purchase Inter Miami Fan Tokens, granting them voting rights on club decisions, exclusive access to merchandise, and VIP experiences.
• NFT Ticketing: Game tickets could be NFTs, creating a secure and transparent secondary market for fans.
• Digital Collectibles: The club could launch digital collectibles, like highlights and player images, as NFTs.

It’s not the first time these are suggested. In fact, Socios introduced fan tokens in MLS in 2022 but we’ve heard nothing after that. Splinterlands launched a fantasy football type deck builder game but it’s outdated (no Messi!) and not much fun to play.

Polkadot ecosystem could be trusted to innovate proper Web3 solutions that actually work. If the sponsorship goes beyond just giving money to the club, then the blockchain-based solutions should be engaging and easy to use. They should benefit both the team and the fans, as well as play on the strengths of the existing teams in the Polkadot ecosystem.

Perhaps Mythical Games, with their NFL Rivals gaming experience, could be persuaded to go for MLS Rivals next. What if Encointer helped the fans and the larger local community to meet and to create economic value together? And maybe Zeitgeist would help take sports prediction markets to the next level. The possibilities are endless.

Let’s make history together!

By proposing and approving this sponsorship, the Polkadot community would demonstrate its ability to innovate and make a real-world impact. Merging traditional sports with cutting-edge blockchain technology would create a win-win partnership for both Polkadot and Inter Miami. The Polkadot community has the power to make history. Join the discussion on the forum, share your ideas, and let's work together to develop a compelling proposal. Think how we could start small and experiment with this collaboration already in 2024, and paint the vision for what a full-fledged sponsorship could look like in 2025. Let's make it happen!

Chime in to the discussion on Polkassembly and make your ideas heard!