Liverpool FC Launches NFT Collection Dubbed ‘LFC Heroes Club’

Following the lead of Manchester City, Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain, Liverpool is the latest major football club to launch its own collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

🔴 Welcome to the @LFCHeroesClub! 🔴

A first-of-its-kind online fan community, centered around digital collectibles and created for the LFC faithful 🙌

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 24, 2022

The LFC Heroes Club – launched in partnership with Sotheby’s Metaverse – features generative imagery of each of its 24 players in what the club says is an “innovative way to celebrate being an LFC fan from anywhere in the world”.

‘Lower’ Price Points From $75 Per NFT

The collection will also feature 24 “Legendary” one-of-one editions, one for each player, to be auctioned off individually on March 30. The remaining NFTs will be sold at lower price points (from US$75) in a move the club hopes will make them accessible to its broader fan base.

The LFC collectibles will be available to purchase across a three-day sale window from Wednesday, March 30 to Friday, April 1. Half of the proceeds will go to the LFC Foundation, in addition to 10 percent from the ‘Heroes’ sale and all future resale royalties.

Backlash Begins Within Minutes

Within minutes of the NFT news breaking, however, disgruntled Liverpool supporters took to Twitter to air their misgivings:

Liverpool have spent a long time assessing external sentiment around NFTs in recent months and were warned about potential harms to investors/the environment but proceeded anyway. Presumably the financial gain outweighs any backlash as far as they’re concerned. https://t.co/zQzvghlKds

— David Lynch (@dmlynchlfc) March 24, 2022

Liverpool are testing the waters on crypto/NFTs, asking fans about their familiarity, feelings, and to what extent a charitable contribution would offset any ill feelings towards them. These are my opinions I shared with the club🧵 pic.twitter.com/N6L9WgurZj

— James Leonard (@james_a_leonard) January 21, 2022

Liverpool have gamed the system pretty hard and I don't really blame them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some weird looking monkey NFTs to sell to the EFL for an obscene amount of money.

— Tim Stillman (@Stillmanator) January 13, 2022

Backroom Sports Deals Linking NFTs and Fan Tokens

When FC Barcelona announced its NFT auction in November last year, some claimed it was a desperate measure to offset the club’s US$1.56 billion debt crisis. The move was seen as part of a fire sale that resulted in star player Lionel Messi leaving the club to join Paris Saint Germain, which in itself saw PSG’s token price surge 50 percent. Messi was reportedly paid US$35 million in $PSG fan tokens as part of the transfer deal, and went on to launch his own NFT collection.