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With the Kansas City Chiefs aiming to become the first team since 1967 to win a ‘threepeat’, the New England Patriots embarking on their first season without head coach Bill Belichick in 24 years, and numerous other stories and subplots, it looks destined to be a doozy.
Viral Game Lets Players Be the Boss
As is the case every year, millions of armchair experts will take in the plays from home, many of them ranting about the coaches’ decisions and arguing that they could do better. Indeed, an increasing number – around 30 million – will go a step further, assembling their own dream team and trash-talking opponents on the official NFL Fantasy Football app.
The app isn’t the only show in town for those looking to step into the shoes of a General Manager. There’s also Web3 game NFL Rivals which has gone from strength to strength since launching last year. Back in June, the hit digital collectibles game surpassed $6 million in lifetime trading volume – all the more impressive given it reached the milestone during the offseason.
Designed by game developer Mythical Games, the free-to-play release has racked up over 5 million downloads between the Apple and Google app stores, placing it firmly in the upper echelon of Web3 games. Notable for its Fantasy Football-esque strategy and arcade-style football gameplay, NFL Rivals is, like Madden before it, licensed by the National Football League.
 
Ahead of the 2024 season, the game is running a campaign called Road to the Playoffs (August 8-22), during which players can collect limited-edition NFT cards to be in with the chance of winning rewards. When the campaign ends, a new rewards track will begin featuring multiple Legendary-tier cards for players to earn over the course of the 2024 season.
In NFL Rivals, there are five levels of rarity: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary and Mythical; the higher the rarity, the greater the potential power rating of the card. At the end of the ‘Road to the Playoffs’ will be a Mythical-tier card representing the regular season MVP announced by the League in January, available in a finite quantity.
As with Fantasy Football, players are not locked into their picks from day one: the integrated Mythical Marketplace supports a roaring trade between GMs, and it’s possible to filter searches by team, position, card rarity, category (Players, Blueprints and Squad Helmets), power rating and more.
A Growing Trend
The success of NFL Rivals reflects a wider trend, wherein the worlds of Web3 and sport are coming together.
Whether it’s crypto companies sponsoring the shirts of English Premier League teams, digital fan tokens minted on platforms like Socios and Chiliz, or any number of sportspeople dropping their own exclusive NFT collections (Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tyson Fury), the synergies are becoming difficult to ignore.
For web3 maximalists, sport is the perfect vehicle to popularize niche technology such as cryptocurrency wallets, non-fungible tokens and blockchain. As for the growing number of NFL Rivals devotees, they might opine that a good game is simply a good game – regardless of the tech under the hood.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/with-nfl-season-on-the-horizon-fans-flock-to-fantasy-web3-games/