Man Utd’s Phil Jones Jumps On the Metaverse Train, Announces Red Lion NFT Collection

Quick take:

• Phil Jones has teamed up with Antourage to launch an exclusive metaverse members club.
• The Manchester United star has also announced 4,000 generative Red Lion NFTs built on Solana’s proof-of-stake blockchain.
• The NFTs will be available for auction at a price of 2 SOL each.

English footballer Phil Jones has jumped on the NFT train with 4,000 generative Red Lion NFTs. The Manchester United star also announced an exclusive metaverse member club as part of his new venture into Web3.

Jones has collaborated with Stockholm-based media platform, Antourage, to launch the new metaverse membership project: Red Lion Sports Club (RLSC). According to the announcement, the NFT collections will debut at a price of 2 SOl each, which works out to about $261 based on the current SOL price of $130.50.

The Red Lion Sports Club is a unique metaverse space created for both the fans and athletes, giving them an exclusive platform to hang out together, watch content, play games, support great causes, and enter competitions to win prizes.

The RLSC NFTs have been crafted by the popular augmented reality creator Doddz. Each Red Lion acts as a membership card to the exclusive club, offering owners access to member-only benefits like the “Boardroom” where users can vote on various projects and matters about the RLSC initiatives.

The RLSC will be a founding organisation for more future clubs, including the Red Lion Football Club, which launches prior to the Women’s Euro 2022.

Commenting on the project, Phil Jones Co-Founder of RLSC and English footballer said over the past six months he had been researching about Web3 and the potential of the metaverse.

“It’s something I’m genuinely passionate about and the idea behind the Red Lion Sports Club is to enable a new way of engaging with fans that promotes a genuine sense of community rooted in mutual respect for other members.”

Jones added that RLSC will be a platform where fans of all types of sports will be able to have a say on how the digital community grows, develops, as well as, interact with athletes, celebrities and other members.

“I’m really excited to have developed this project with Antourage and can’t wait to start welcoming people to the Red Lion Sports Club community,” he concluded.

On the other hand, Johan Junker, CEO and Co-Founder of Antourage, said “we are excited to launch Antourage’s first metaverse project and thrilled to have Phil on board as the driving force behind Red Lion Sports Club,” adding that the project defines why Antourage was formed. “To connect passion-driven fan communities with authentic content that is distributed across the latest social platforms.”

Junker echoed Jones’ remarks about promoting and rewarding fan engagement. 

“Red Lions Sports Club fully represents this philosophy and Web 3.0, driven by the metaverse, will expedite this change that will deliver greater value and a richer experience for fans and creators alike,” he concluded.

The announcement comes at the back of a flurry of EPL stars and football clubs that have also leapt into the NFT train, including Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United.