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Liverpool Expands Partnership With NFT Fantasy Sports Startup Sorare

FILE PHOT: Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Newcastle United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - August 31, 2022 A Liverpool flag is pictured before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble
FILE PHOT: Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Newcastle United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - August 31, 2022 A Liverpool flag is pictured before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble
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Liverpool Expands Partnership With NFT Fantasy Sports Startup Sorare

FILE PHOT: Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Newcastle United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - August 31, 2022 A Liverpool flag is pictured before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble
FILE PHOT: Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Newcastle United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - August 31, 2022 A Liverpool flag is pictured before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble

Liverpool football club is deepening its ties with the crypto world by expanding a partnership with French blockchain-based sports startup Sorare, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Sorare, whose online fantasy sports game involves the sale of licensed digital sports cards which players can use to build teams which compete against each other, said it had an exclusive multi-year partnership with Liverpool to create content and experiences for fans.

The cards for the game are bought and traded in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a kind of crypto asset which records the ownership status of digital goods on the blockchain, Reuters reported.

A 2021 deal saw Liverpool cards introduced on the platform and the new deal will see perks such as Liverpool stadium visits, match day experiences, merchandise and video content being offered as prizes for winners of the online game, Sorare said.

Sports-related collectibles proved a popular type of NFT as the digital assets market exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry last year, although the frenzy has cooled in recent months.

The average sale price of a Sorare NFT in August was $86.14, down from a peak of around $280 in March last year, according to market tracker CryptoSlam.

Britain's gambling watchdog is investigating Sorare to assess whether its game amounts to gambling. A spokesperson for Sorare said that this was "not relevant" to the partnership with Liverpool.

"Sorare remains very confident it does not offer any forms of gambling, and this has been confirmed by expert legal opinions at every stage since the company was founded, including when signing new partnerships," the spokesperson said.

Sorare says it has over 2 million users worldwide and partnerships with more than 280 million sports organizations, including Major League Baseball in the United States and UK football clubs.

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Alcaraz Eyes Clay Court Season after Early Miami Exit

World number one Carlos Alcaraz will refocus on the clay court season after another early exit at the Miami Open. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
World number one Carlos Alcaraz will refocus on the clay court season after another early exit at the Miami Open. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Alcaraz Eyes Clay Court Season after Early Miami Exit

World number one Carlos Alcaraz will refocus on the clay court season after another early exit at the Miami Open. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
World number one Carlos Alcaraz will refocus on the clay court season after another early exit at the Miami Open. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

World number one Carlos Alcaraz remained confident his game is improving despite a third-round exit at the Miami Open, and after a few days to reset he'll be turning his attention to the clay court season.

"Probably I'm going to go back home," Alcaraz said after falling in three sets to 36th-ranked American Sebastian Korda on Sunday.

"Chilling with my family, with my friends a couple of days. I don't know how much my team are going to allow me to have rest and a day off.

"The clay season is around the corner. My mind right now is to take some days off, to reset my mind, reset the batteries, be ready and in good shape for the clay season."

Korda became the lowest-ranked man to defeat Alcaraz since 55th-ranked David Goffin ousted him in the second round at Miami last year.

The Spaniard had built a 73-6 record in the year since then, including a 16-0 run to start 2026 that included an Australian Open title that made the 22-year-old the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam, said AFP.

He added a title in Doha before a semi-final defeat at Indian Wells, and he knows that every lower-ranked player comes out swinging freely against him.

"Obviously when you're winning tournaments and you have great record win/lose, everything is easier in the way of pressure to the opponents," he said. "I'm feeling they have more to win than to lose in those matches ... they're playing without pressure."

Alcaraz is trying to make sure he doesn't respond by piling pressure on himself.

"I'm not thinking about my pressure," he said. "I don't feel it at all. I'm trying to play my best."

That includes constant work to improve his game, and despite Sunday's result he's confident he's on the right track.

"I would say what I was practicing, you know, I think I just did it really well," he said. "Some couple things in previous tournaments that I just didn't feel comfortable, I think in this tournament, I started to feel better and better.

"I think the process has been good. Besides the loss today, I think I'm still in the right way."

Sports

Arsenal's Eze Out of England Friendlies Due to Calf Injury

Eberechi Eze of Arsenal in action during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 2nd leg match between Arsenal and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in London, Great Britain, 17 March 2026. EPA/NEIL HALL
Eberechi Eze of Arsenal in action during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 2nd leg match between Arsenal and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in London, Great Britain, 17 March 2026. EPA/NEIL HALL
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Arsenal's Eze Out of England Friendlies Due to Calf Injury

Eberechi Eze of Arsenal in action during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 2nd leg match between Arsenal and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in London, Great Britain, 17 March 2026. EPA/NEIL HALL
Eberechi Eze of Arsenal in action during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 2nd leg match between Arsenal and Bayer 04 Leverkusen in London, Great Britain, 17 March 2026. EPA/NEIL HALL

Arsenal's Eberechi Eze will miss England's friendlies against Uruguay and Japan due to a calf injury, manager Mikel Arteta said on Sunday, after the attacking midfielder sat out their 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the League Cup final.

Eze ⁠had been named ⁠in Thomas Tuchel's 35-man squad on Friday for matches against Uruguay at Wembley Stadium on March 27 and Japan ⁠at the same venue four days later as part of England's preparations for the World Cup.

"No, he's out," Arteta told reporters when asked if Eze would be fit for international duty, Reuters reported. "We have to do another scan ⁠in ⁠six or seven days and wait and see the results. It is a leg injury. His calf."

British media have reported that Newcastle United winger Harvey Barnes may replace Eze in the England squad.

Sports

World Cup Hero Götze Omitted as Frankfurt Loses Bundesliga Derby 2-1 in Mainz

Mainz' scorer Paul Nebel, right, and his teammates Nelson Weiper, center, and Nikolas Veratschnig, left, celebrate their side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1.FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt in Mainz, Germany, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Marc Schueler/dpa via AP)
Mainz' scorer Paul Nebel, right, and his teammates Nelson Weiper, center, and Nikolas Veratschnig, left, celebrate their side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1.FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt in Mainz, Germany, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Marc Schueler/dpa via AP)
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World Cup Hero Götze Omitted as Frankfurt Loses Bundesliga Derby 2-1 in Mainz

Mainz' scorer Paul Nebel, right, and his teammates Nelson Weiper, center, and Nikolas Veratschnig, left, celebrate their side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1.FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt in Mainz, Germany, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Marc Schueler/dpa via AP)
Mainz' scorer Paul Nebel, right, and his teammates Nelson Weiper, center, and Nikolas Veratschnig, left, celebrate their side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1.FSV Mainz 05 and Eintracht Frankfurt in Mainz, Germany, Sunday, March 22, 2026. (Marc Schueler/dpa via AP)

Eintracht Frankfurt dropped World Cup hero Mario Götze and lost 2-1 at local rival Mainz in their Bundesliga derby on Sunday.

Paul Nebel scored both goals for Mainz, grabbing the winner in the 89th minute to set off wild celebrations and deal Frankfurt its second defeat under new coach Albert Riera.

Nebel opened the scoring in the sixth minute before Nathaniel Brown responded for Frankfurt in the 20th, then Nebel fired home the rebound after Frankfurt ’keeper Michael Zetterer saved Nelson Weiper’s header.

Götze’s omission prompted questions for Riera before kickoff, when the Spanish coach asked which of his players should make way for the former Germany star to be in his squad after Arthur Theate, Can Uzun, Younes Ebnoutalib and Ansgar Knauff all recovered from injuries.

“Name me one player,” Riera challenged his pre-game interviewer on broadcaster DAZN. “If I could take 21 players, he’d be included,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.

“Mario also had some physical problems during the week and wasn’t always at 100%. And I had to make a decision about who the best players for the bench are.”

Götze, who scored Germany’s World Cup-winning goal in 2014, has featured sparingly for Frankfurt this season, making 18 league appearances over 27 rounds and completing only one full Bundesliga game. He didn’t appear at all in Frankfurt’s last two games and seems to have lost some standing under Riera compared to the previous coach, Dino Toppmöller, who was fired in January.

Mainz’ win lifted it six points above St. Pauli in the relegation zone before the Hamburg-based team played Freiburg later.

Also later, Stuttgart had the chance to move third at Augsburg.