Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has entered into an official partnership with Rario, an officially licensed digital cricket collectibles platform, to mark his new innings in the new-age world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
“This partnership not only involves Sachin as a strategic investor, but also allows fans from around the world to own his digital collectibles exclusively on Rario.com,” Rario said in a statement.
Speaking on the partnership, Tendulkar says: “Fans are an integral part of any sport. While the on-field action happens for a few hours, fans carry the memories forward and immortalise those moments forever. It is exciting to see NFT technology bringing fans closer to sports, giving them an opportunity to treasure their favourite moments.”
The Master Blaster further said that the team at Rario was committed to building a cricket community using technology in a responsible way.
“I am, therefore, happy to partner with the team, to launch my digital collectibles exclusively on the Rario platform,” he adds.
Rario said that with the help of this collaboration, Tendulkar’s fans will now have the chance to own digital collectibles of their favourite player and use them across multiple utilities that follow.
Many legendary and upcoming cricketers are already on Rario's platform. These include, Aaron Finch, Faf Du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Shakib Al Hasan, Rishabh Pant, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Smriti Mandhana, Arshdeep Singh, and Axar Patel.
Ankit Wadhwa, co-founder and CEO, Rario, says: “In 1996, I saw Sachin Tendulkar live for the first time at the India-Sri Lanka World Cup match in Kotla, Delhi. The greatest player in the world had scored a run-a-ball 137 – he was the hero of a billion cricket lovers. Twenty-six years later, partnering with the Master Blaster with him investing in Rario is a surreal feeling.”
Wadhwa further said that new-age technology, such as NFTs make stars and their memories more accessible to sports fan.
“It’s a world where stars don’t just exist on a distant flickering screen or in a crowded stadium, and fans don’t get to be passive observers, but active participants. It is only fitting that the man who once carried a billion hopes, is now blessing us in our journey to redefine fandom for a billion fans. With the God of Cricket backing us, sky is the limit!” he adds.
NFTs are a class of digital assets that use Blockchain to track asset ownership and transfer.
According to Rario, the craze has spread to include all forms of art, media, fashion, and sports. NFTs are rapidly approaching the $50 billion market value of all works of art, with a market value of $40 billion.
