Photo Credit: Cricket Australia
In a first for Australian cricket, Rario and BlockTrust have signed an official licensing deal with Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association that will see digital collectible NFTs (non-fungible tokens) from Australian cricket and play-to-earn virtual gaming made accessible to over one billion cricket fans globally.
Using eco-friendly blockchain technology, the multi-year exclusive CA/ACA partnership will introduce NFTs to cricket fans, creating a new fan engagement tool that celebrates the rich history of Australian cricket. The partnership will support the growth of the game along with supporting past and present players through their historic achievements being featured in NFT moments.
Rario, creators of the world’s first Cricket NFT platform, along with joint-venture partner BlockTrust, will now help Australian cricket fans understand, collect, and engage with NFTs by creating an Australian cricket metaverse of collectibles and gaming. Fans can get access to exclusive information by registering their interest at nft.cricket.com.au or rario.com.
Traditionally collectibles have only featured still images, whereas NFTs can also show the full story of a sporting moment by featuring officially licensed broadcast vision. The shot and reaction when Ellyse Perry registered her Ashes double century, the magic moments of Scott Boland’s MCG spell or, back in time, Steve Waugh’s last ball boundary at the SCG in 2003, can now be captured in full action for digital trading cards and memorabilia that fans can own and trade exclusively.
The engagement possibilities are vast, from providing collectibles that introduce fans to the history of the game, gaming experiences that allow collectors to play games against each other around the world (which over 100 million cricket fans already do), to trading card sets that act as visual coaching tools for children starting out in the game.
Rario and BlockTrust have led a consortium of leading ecosystem partners in successfully procuring this project, including ConsenSys and Amazon Web Services. Further announcements on NFT releases and player partnerships will be made in the coming months.
Ankit Wadhwa, co-founder and CEO of RARIO said:
“Yet again Australia has led the way in cricketing innovation by entering the metaverse with Rario and BlockTrust. This historic collaboration is a first in the cricketing world, where a national board (Cricket Australia) and players’ association (ACA) have come together to define the future of fandom with NFTs.
“Rario is a global cricket NFT platform with partners across Australia, Asia, the Caribbean and the Americas. With this partnership, we are excited to give cricket lovers the opportunity to own a part of the sport they love, collect memorable moments and player cards and indulge in cricket NFT based games in the Rario metaverse.”
Mike Alexander, co-founder and CEO of BlockTrust said:
“We are very excited to team up with Rario, Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association to establish Australia’s first sports metaverse designed for the Australian cricket community.
“BlockTrust has quickly established itself as a leader in the development of bespoke NFT marketplaces and web3 experiences, assisting a range of brands and organisations globally to develop and tokenise physical and digital assets.”
Nick Hockley, CEO of Cricket Australia said:
“We are excited to step into the metaverse with our partners Rario, BlockTrust and the Australian Cricketers’ Association for this historic deal, which will open up huge opportunities for innovation and fan engagement.
“The game’s deep connection with its past, the passion of our fans and the appeal of Australian cricketers to a global audience, means the incorporation of NFTs is another way that fans across the world can engage and be part of the sport.
“This is just the start and I have no doubt we will see enormous benefit for fans, players and the sport itself as we build this exciting partnership.”
Todd Greenberg, CEO of the Australian Cricketers’ Association said:
“This is an exciting opportunity for Australian cricket, and this has been reflected in the cooperative spirit that the ACA and Cricket Australia have partnered with Rario.
“Once you begin to learn about NFTs you soon understand the engagement possibilities between past and present players with fans are huge. We all look forward to bringing this program to life in the coming months with new and innovative concepts.”
CRICKET NFTs – FAQS
What are cricket NFTs?
Non-fungible Tokens are unique representations of real-world assets (for example, trading cards), made ownable and tradeable using blockchain technology. In the case of cricket, the NFTs range from cricketing moments to player images.
Are cricket NFTs cryptocurrency?
No, they are two completely different things. Cricket NFTs are tradeable online, but they are not a form of currency, and are instead a product bought and sold like traditional memorabilia. The only real similarity is that they both use blockchain technology.
How do you buy them?
Currently all Rario NFTs can be purchased on their marketplace in packs just like traditional trading cards. You can purchase them on the Rario Marketplace, a platform where you can buy, trade and sell your Rario NFTs to build up your collection of favourite cricketing moments from the history of the game or own the complete set of cards of your favourite players.
What will Rario NFTs cost?
There will be a range of different NFT series at various price points.
What determines the worth of cricket NFTs?
Like trading cards, NFTs will generally be valued based on the demand (popularity) and supply (scarcity of the moment), so ultimately value is determined by market demand.
What cricket range does Rario currently produce?
Rario produces NFT series for the Hero Caribbean Premier League, Lanka Premier League, Abu Dhabi T10 League and Legends League Cricket, Lanka League. The brand also has a roster of over 600 international cricketers as well as over 30 exclusive brand ambassadors like Aaron Finch, Faf Du Plessis, Jason Holder and many more. This will be its first official licensing partnership with a national cricket governing body.
Are Rario NFTs environmentally sustainable?
Rario, Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association are committed to a partnership that sees NFTs produced in a sustainable manner. For example, Rario uses Polygon blockchain, an Ethereum compatible side-chain, to mint NFTs. This translates to more eco-friendliness and considerably fewer carbon emissions.
About RARIO
Rario is a Singapore-based company founded in 2021 by IIT Alumni Ankit Wadhwa and Sunny Bhanot as the world’s first officially licensed digital collectibles platform for cricket fans to collect and trade cricket NFTs (Non-fungible Tokens).
Rario has already signed exclusive partnerships with the Hero Caribbean Premier League, Lanka Premier League, Abu Dhabi T10 League and Legends League Cricket and boasts a roster of over 600 international cricketers as well as over 30 exclusive brand ambassadors.
Having Polygon Studios and Animoca as partners, Rario NFTs are minted on the Polygon blockchain. The company is backed by reputed investors such as Kingsway Capital and Presight Capital. Since 2021, Rario has sold over 50,000 NFTs to sports fans across 20 countries.
More information on Rario can be found here.
About BLOCKTRUST
BlockTrust was established in 2020 by Blockchain expert Michael Alexander and IT entrepreneur Michael Haywood. Alexander is the former CEO of EOS Venture Capital, a leading blockchain investor and prior to that CEO of Jeffries Bank in Asia Pacific. Dr Haywood has developed technology platforms for a range of industries and is also a founder of the globally awarded LiveHire talent acquisition platform.
BlockTrust’s NFT marketplace design and development services are being used by a number of organisations and associations globally. This includes national sporting associations, e-gaming, museum collections, entertainment conglomerates and high-profile celebrities with large fan basis.
PARTNERS:
AMAZON WEB SERVICES
Rario uses the breadth and depth of Amazon Web Services (AWS) services, including storage, compute, and database, to provide a safe, secure, and scalable customer experience. AWS is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud offering, with over 200 fully-featured services from data centres globally. Millions of customers, including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies, are using AWS to lower costs, become more agile, and innovate faster.
CONSENSYS
Consensys is a leading Ethereum and decentralized protocols software company and the team behind the world’s leading self custodial crypto wallet, MetaMask. More than 30 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) globally are using MetaMask to mint and collect NFTs, join DAOs, and participate in DeFi protocols. ConsenSys has been a pioneer in creating the foundational software for the next wave of the internet, Web3. Its mission is to unlock the collaborative power of communities by making NFTs, DAOs and DeFi universally easy to access, use and build on.
Name of Author: Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia (CA), formerly the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for cricket in Australia. Established in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket, CA manages all national teams, including Men’s, Women’s, and Youth sides, as well as other national teams. It oversees the organization of Test matches, ODIs, and T20Is, and coordinates home international fixtures.
