The English Premier League (EPL), which is one of the most-watched sports leagues in the world, has filed two trademarks in the United States for cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This indicates that the EPL is ready to expand its brand into the digital domain.
After filing the trademark applications to the USPTO the previous week, licensed trademark attorney Michael Kondoudis made the trademark applications public for the first time on June 6 via the use of a tweet.
The Premier League is the highest level of professional football in England, and it has twenty clubs competing against one another.
In both instances, it is desired to make use of the trademarks connected with the league inside the United States. In the first application, the name of the league and its insignia are represented by a “lion wearing a crown in three-quarter perspective,” and in the second application, the name of the league is represented by a “love cup trophy” that has lions on each handle and a crown perched atop the trophy.
Among the goods and services that are included in the scope of the trademark applications are virtual assets, garments, and accessories, cryptocurrency, and media files that have been certified by NFT. According to these terms and conditions, the trademarks of the Premier League may also be used in “virtual, augmented, and mixed reality software.”
It is possible to use something called a non-fungible token, also known as an NFT, to act as a representation of ownership over digital content such as graphics, images, or music. This may be thought of as a kind of digital asset. Because they are generated on public blockchains like Ethereum or Solana, each token has its own distinct identity, which cannot be copied under any circumstances.
In recent years, a greater number of companies have entered the market, which has contributed to the expansion of the NFT sector. A noteworthy example of a non-traditional approach to gaming in the field of sports is the NBA Top Shot video game, which is scheduled for release in the year 2020. According to CryptoSlam’s reporting, the purchase price of the collection was somewhere about $1.3 billion.
Demand for cryptocurrencies and NFTs has slowed down lately as a result of the current drop in the market; nevertheless, sales of NFTs are still on course to break the previous record of $20 billion, which was set in 2017. Celebrities, artists, and other well-known personalities in pop culture are increasingly resorting to social media to engage with their committed fans and develop an online community. This trend may be attributed to the rise of influencer marketing.
The use of digital currencies as a form of payment is gaining popularity, particularly among football teams. Arsenal, a game that is played for free, has agreed to a partnership with Unagi, which will make it possible for players to obtain player cards as non-monetary prizes (NFTs).
It is up to the user to decide whether they want to keep their player cards, sell them for in-game currency, or swap them with other players. All three options are available. This may serve as a warning to Premier League fans for the years to come.
