Liverpool supporters unimpressed with club's first NFT digital art collection

Entering into the world of collectable art, Liverpool Football Club launched its first official NFT collection on Thursday. The LFC Heroes Club collection will showcase illustrations of 24 of the male squad, bringing their 'individual and superhero characteristics to life'.

Created in partnership with the Sotheby's auction house, the digital art collection will be available for purchase during a three-day online sale from March 30 to April 1.

The digital collection will have two categories – the Legendary and Hero Edition. The Legendary category will consist of 24 one-off NFTs of the "legendary heroes" from Liverpool FC depicted as superheroes. During the online auction, they will go under the hammer, with bidding starting at 75 pounds.

The Hero Edition is a limited series that will see the players demonstrating various personality traits and poses. Fans will have the opportunity to own a unique randomly generated Hero Edition NFT, with the exact image revealed once the sale ends to mirror the anticipation created when opening a pack of football cards. These will be priced at $75 (£56).

Half of the proceeds from Liverpool's Legendary collection auction will go towards the LFC Foundation and other charitable and community projects. An additional 10 per cent from the club's limited-edition Hero sale and 10 per cent of all future resale royalties will also go to the LFC Foundation.

The charity is also creating its own LFC Foundation Heroes NFTs to celebrate the contributions made by the staff members to the community.

LFC has said that by owning one of their NFTs, supporters can join its fan community, with access to an LFC community forum, experiences, virtual hang-outs, competitions, and LFC retail discounts. The club added that the three-day sale would be run and be managed on an energy-efficient blockchain called Polygon as part of their sustainability initiative, The Red Way.

Liverpool Football Club has also stated its NFTs are digital collectable works of art and should not be considered investments. However, fans of the Red are not convinced by this initiative. Here's a look at some of the reactions:

Drew Crisp, senior vice president of digital at Liverpool FC, said, "The LFC Heroes Club drop is a first-of-its-kind initiative, which seeks to bring a new, exciting and innovative way for supporters around the world to engage with the club."

"We always strive to adopt new emerging technology for the benefit of fans and club, while also being very conscious of our impact on the environment. This is why we have chosen to work with Sotheby's due to its capability to create NFTs on an energy-efficient blockchain," Crisp added.

"We wanted to create a really accessible collection of NFTs that are truly unique to LFC, and simply give fans an opportunity to explore this new and trending topic, and most importantly, give fans a choice to buy one should they wish," he added.

He also highlighted that this is a "great chance" for the club to offer fans "something truly special" while also giving back to their LFC Foundation.

Sebastian Fahey, Sotheby's MD for EMEA and executive lead for Sotheby's Metaverse, said, "To collaborate with Liverpool Football Club, one of the most successful and storied football clubs in the world, for this first-of-its-kind NFT collection marks a turning point in how NFTs can be used to engage fan communities with tailored releases and unique concepts specially designed for their supporters."

"Together, we have created a new digital art collection, which celebrates LFC heroes and leverages our web3 technology to enable the club's passionate and global supporter group to be a part of this exciting initiative for the long-term," Fahey concluded.

The LFC Heroes Club NFT collection will go on sale during a three-day auction from March 30 to April 1 at Sotheby's online metaverse.