Prominent French football club Paris Saint-Germain FC has teamed up with its cryptocurrency exchange sponsor Crypto.com to launch matchday posters co-created with artificial intelligence tools – and fans can collect the posters as NFTs.
Benjamin Benichou, an artist who uses generative AI as part of his creative process, designed the poster series for PSG. Out of a total of 1,970 incarnations, only seven were ultimately chosen to be released via the NFT series.
Paris Saint-Germain FC will display the posters for seven matches next season, starting with the match against September 24 Olympique de Marseille in the French Ligue 1 football competition.
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All seven poster NFTs will air for free on Crypto.com’s NFT platform for eligible account holders to claim. Each NFT will be made available in accordance with the competition day listed on each poster.
Fans who collect all seven NFTs will also be eligible to receive prints of Benicho’s original poster artwork, signed shirts from PSG players and VIP tickets to attend the final home game of the season.
Promotional artwork for the Paris Saint-Germain NFT collection. Image: Paris Saint Germain FC
“This collaboration with Benjamin Benichou has given us a better understanding of this new tool, which opens up endless creative possibilities,” PSG Chief Brand Officer Fabien Allègre said in a statement. “By continuing to explore new frontiers, Paris Saint-Germain aims to redefine the future of sport and open unexplored horizons to new generations of supporters.”
A spokesperson for Crypto.com clarified this Declutter that “Gala Games” in the above marketing image refers to prominent matches during the football season; it is not a reference to Gala Games, the crypto gaming startup.
Crypto.com signed a deal in 2021 to become PSG’s first official cryptocurrency platform partner in a sponsorship that will reportedly pay the team around $30 million over three years, according to Sports business magazine.
Paris Saint-Germain has previously taken a leap of faith Web3 in 2020 through the licensing agreement with NFT fantasy sports game So rarewhile superstar player Lionel Messi has reportedly agreed to join the club in 2021 including payments created via Socios crypto-phantokens.
Benichou is also CEO of a social e-commerce startup Drop. On LinkedIn, Benichou shared images of AI-generated Nike concept stores he designed with Midjourney.
“When you explore the intersecting potential of a brand as inspiring as Paris Saint-Germain and a tool as powerful as artificial intelligence, the possibilities for creation become infinite,” said Benichou. “This initiative paves the way for a new area of artistic and creative expression where art and technology come together.”