FIFA Launches Digital Collectibles That Aren't NFTs

When is an NFT not an NFT? When it's a Digital Collectable.

Here we are again, another major organisation launching a new initiative without using any#web3terminology.

And why is this huge? Because nearly half of the world's population watch football. And that's how you can onboard people to Web3 without them even knowing it.

“This exciting announcement makes FIFA collectables available to any football fan, democratising the ability to own a part of the FIFA World Cup.

Just like sports memorabilia and stickers, this is an accessible opportunity for fans around the world to engage with their favourite players, moments and more on new platforms.”

Now, here's the rub.

Just like Playstation Stars, which is most definitely not an NFT by the way according to Sony, the new FIFA+ Collect initiative is a walled garden. There's no mention of being able to collect, trade, and sell your precious moments of football history to others - in or outside of the FIFA+ ecosystem.

Which goes against most, if not all, NFT and Web3 ideologies.

FIFA+ is however powered by Algorand so there is still hope that this may not be true, and they are certainly making a case for Web3 itself by mentioning 'decentralisation' in the announcement.

FIFA+ Collect is powered by Algorand, the official blockchain platform of FIFA and the technology of choice for over 2,000 global organisations, governments and digital-native decentralised finance applications. It is a low-cost, carbon-neutral blockchain accessible via multiple currencies and payment methods.

“FIFA’s platform – via a truly decentralised and scalable public blockchain – is the first tangible representation of the technical partnership recently announced between FIFA and Algorand,”

Again though, here we see another massive and global brand with access to billions of fans who can easily become part of the web3 movement.

Except it isn't really web3 but that's one opinion I stand alone on.