United City entering groundbreaking partnership with Gravity Sport

Eric Gottschalk with the UCFC kit

 Tack on another historic notch for the United City Football Club.

The Pampanga-based team entered into a landmark partnership with Gravity Sport, with among all things, allowing the latter to become the former's official blockchain partner.

In addition, the deal allows UCFC to build & monetize content, data security, and entertainment in a custom-built digital asset ecosystem, something that no Asian football club has done previously.

A similar commercial and technological deal is in place with Serie A side Parma.

UCFC believes that having this kind of partnership "will pave the future of football and how fans will have ownership of the club's collectibles and put a new meaning to tokenization," especially with the increased awareness of blockchain, NFTs, and metaverse in the country.

Team President Eric M. Gottschalk shares, "We are proud to have reached another milestone in our vision of how we think Club football not only in the Philippines shall evolve over time, and we would like to thank Gravity Sport for its vision to see the potential in partnering with UCFC as well as Orchid Sport & Entertainment, which helped us to complete the deal."

He adds, "We will be the first regional football club to integrate blockchain into its operations from merchandise, membership, data analysis & security. Therefore, it allows our fans to get closer to the players through our dedicated fan tokens and exclusive NFTs, which will be launched ahead of the 2022 season."

Using Gravity Sport blockchain technology and NFT marketplace, UCFC will have the opportunity to craft innovative fan-owned assets, including digital player cards, as well as interviews, match highlights, and goals. Such tradeable assets would be available to acquire through unique fan tokens. In the process, Gravity Sport also helps enable the digital economy in serving as the host and operator of that platform, connecting and establishing a new form of engagement with a new global audience and providing an opportunity for them to adopt this new endeavor.

Gottschalk also shares, "The partnership with Gravity Sport and the use of blockchain technology will allow UCFC to make another step forward in unlocking new revenue streams and to become a sustainable football business that does not rely purely on match-day revenues or sponsorship income alone."

Gravity Sport founder Stuart Gallacher shares, "Gravity Sport is tremendously proud to add United City FC to its growing portfolio of international sports properties, following our jersey partnership with Parma Calcio in August."

He adds, "The Philippines is a very interesting market for us as the country is poised to reach new economic heights in the near future while its young, tech-savvy population is naturally equipped to easily grow into the new area of "blockchain technology. And just like us, UCFC is fast evolving, has a clear, futuristic vision while displaying strong values which assures that our ambitions are closely aligned. We are excited to innovate jointly with UCFC as we believe we have an incredibly exciting global blockchain NFT marketplace which will benefit all stakeholders, players, media, and of course the strong fan audiences that UCFC already has."

Gravity Sport's deal is also extended to UCFC's eSports wing, and the public will get a full glimpse of it when the league starts its 2022 season in February/March.