Football media company COPA90 has appointed Petrit Berisha as its Head of Cryptomedia, a new role centred around guiding the firm’s use of blockchain and crypto technology.
Joining the company with immediate effect, Petrit joins as the leveraging of cryptocurrency by sports clubs becomes increasingly commonplace, particularly the use of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).
The use of blockchain technology by football clubs for fan engagement activities has risen significantly over the past year, and COPA90 has described the space as ‘something ‘the sporting content world will need to evolve with’.
A number of leading football teams and leagues have begun to leverage NFTs and Fan Tokens as a means to better engage with their fans, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when spectators were unable to attend matches in person.
The Premier League, Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), French Football Federation (FFF) and German Football Association (DFB) have all explored the possibility of launching NFTs in recent months, with the former two partnering with Socios.com and the latter two with Sorare.
Socios.com in particular has enjoyed considerable success in the sporting space, having secured agreements with a plethora of major clubs including AC Milan, Atlético Madrid, Arsenal, Barcelona, Everton, Inter Milan, Juventus, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
Commenting on his new role, Berisha remarked: “COPA90 are leaders in the football media space, creating exciting and interesting content for football fans around the world as well as incredible brands.
“I’m looking forward to joining them as they enter this new paradigm of fan engagement, creator economies and media.”
Prior to joining COPA90, Petrit worked in various projects in the media, sports, financial services and blockchain space, which has also seen him work as a multi-award winning podcast producer, developing the ‘Blockchain Insider’ by financial services consultancy 11:FS.
Tom Thirlwall, COPA90 CEO, added: “We believe that the next iteration of fan engagement and media will be impacted massively by Blockchain technology – from ticketing and experiences to content and way beyond what is currently being imagined. We are very excited about Petrit’s appointment and the potential that exists for COPA90 in this space.”
