“NFTs Are A Market That Will Multiply By 30, 40 Or 50 Times In The Next Few Years.”
October 6, 2021
iSportConnect talks to Fred Antunes, CEO of RealFevr, to hear about RealFevr’s NFT marketplace, how they are continuing to develop their fantasy football product and how the two can be interlinked in the future.
How did RealFevr as an organisation begin and what is the story of the company?
The RealFevr story begins in an Excel file shared by a group of friends in mid-2010, all trying to bring a possible algorithm closer to a more concrete result. In November 2013, the five friends decided to combine two of their interests: technology and football.
“NFTs are a market that will multiply by 30, 40 or 50 times in the next few years.”
The spreadsheets went further and that’s how RealFevr’s prototype emerged, with an online Fantasy Leagues platform, for Android and iOS. The objective was to bring the American concept of fantasy leagues to Europe and the industry of football. Our goal was always to revolutionise the sports tech business sector via digital products.
How have you been able to develop the fantasy football side of the business?
Currently, we have over 2.5 million app downloads, 1.2 million registered users, 10 national fantasy leagues, three international club competitions and all major European team competitions, including the top five European leagues: Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1. RealFevr is also the official fantasy partner of Liga Portugal and Portuguese Football Federation for their main competitions.
More recently you have also entered the NFT space, which is increasing by the day, but how big do you think NFTs in sport will become – do you expect this to cover all sports eventually?
What we are experiencing today is what we experienced in 1997, 1998, and 1999 with the emergence of the internet and its global expansion. The demand will grow in the coming years as society is becoming more high-tech by the day.
“Our long-term vision is to become the “Amazon” of official sports video NFTs.”
Considering that younger generations are completely digitally native and the impact the pandemic brought to the world, this digital transformation is already a reality. NFTs are a market that will multiply by 30, 40 or 50 times in the next few years as the amount of people that have crypto now is still very small.
We are working to cover all sports, including e-sports. Our long-term vision is to become the “Amazon” of official sports video NFTs.
Why is RealFevr’s offering unique and why should companies create their NFTs with RealFevr?
Companies should create NFTs with RealFevr as we already have a running product open to the public and we can deliver a drop in a matter of weeks.
Second, we have a fully experienced and professional team within the technology we are using, which gives us a competitive advantage.
Finally, we’ve been around for more than 5 years with real and official long-term partnerships, which is very important in the crypto space, considering how most of our competitors are very recent companies, lacking a solid foundation.
Are you going to be looking to integrate the NFTs into the Fantasy Football product at all?
Yes, we plan to use NFTs in fantasy leagues in a near future. Moreover, we are developing an entirely new game that will be released in 2022. This game will be like traditional digital collectible card games like HearthStone and Magic the Gathering, but related to football and using our NFTs as in-game cards.
“The Series B will be the next logical step to take the company to next level and for it to accomplish its true potential.”
Our fantasy leagues already have token and NFT rewards for the winners, therefore becoming a “Play to Earn” (P2E) type game, which is a model that is becoming quite popular in the cryptocurrency space, and that we believe will become mainstream for years to come.
You are undergoing a Series B funding round: what do you hope this will enable you to do moving forwards?
The Series B will be the next logical step to take the company to next level and for it to accomplish its true potential. This funding round will allow RealFevr to buy more rights, create new products and verticals, scale up the team, open new offices in other continents, and invest in projects that can accelerate the growth of NFT market.
What are the goals for RealFevr within the next 12 months?
Over the next 12 months, RealFevr’s goals are to successfully complete every action on our roadmap, which includes the Series B funding round, the launch of the new NFT game, the closing of several new deals with rightsholders to create new NFTs, and the consolidation of the company internationally.