There’s a new football-focused Web3 gaming startup taking the field, Matchday, and just recently, it has announced the raise of $21 million USD in seed capital — with participants including Lionel Messi’s VC firm Play Time. Other contributors include Courtside Ventures, Greylock, HackVC, Capricorn Investment Group, and Horizons Ventures.

With an official license from FIFA as well as FIFAPRO, football’s player union, the startup has access to over 65,000 professional global footballers, which means it in turn has access to official licenses and can bring said players into its various gaming offerings.

My GOAT, your GOAT, Our GOAT, Their GOAT pic.twitter.com/Wj12ef7Jxj

— Matchday (@matchday) March 1, 2023

In 2022, Matchday kicked things off with the release of limited edition FIFA World Cup player cards, which participants could earn by challenging friends in-game. The startup also exclusively partnered with Magic Eden to release its Solana-based Matchday Challenge Pass, which holders used to claim a free collectible pack, access various experiences, and unlock special Discord perks.

As a result of the challenges and mini-games provided in 2022, Matchday distributed over 2 million NFT player cards to roughly 600,000 users.

Now, with a solid community base, the startup is focusing on its latest football management-style game. Matchday CEO Derrick Ko shared that its offerings will be optimized for “casual users” and that they are “building for an untapped audience in the football community.”

Additionally, the startup has placed priority on true ownership over in-game assets, with its Chief Gaming Officer Sebastien de Halleux stating that “our games will be accessible to all players and will focus on true ownership of digital items that all players will be proud of.”

As for the investment from Messi, its not his first time supporting Web3 companies, in fact, he is also an ambassador for the on-chain fantasy football game Sorare as well as the token platform Socio — investing with Sorare and signing a $20 million USD endorsement deal with Socio.

Platforms like Sorare have proven that token-backed sports games can be a highly lucrative industry, having raised $680 million USD at a valuation of $4.3 billion USD in 2021 to now processing over $1 million USD in transactions daily.

As official sports organizations adopt blockchain technology, new opportunities will continue to emerge for owners, players, and fans –creating both financial benefits and a new reality of engagement with the sports world that has not been previously possible.

In other news, former MetaMask lead reveals Web3 game launcher.