PFL Launches Onchain Fan Loyalty Experience

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PFL's Blockchain-Powered Fan Experience 🥊

The Professional Fighters League have launched PFL Rewards, a blockchain-powered global fan loyalty experience that marks the first major MMA organisation to integrate Web3 technology at scale.

The platform, built in partnership with Futureverse, allows PFL's 650 million global fans to earn points through everyday interactions and redeem them for exclusive rewards — underpinned by Futureverse’s ‘Pass’ product.

The system operates through PFL's newly released mobile app, available worldwide on iOS and Android. Fans earn points for streaming live fights, submitting predictions, downloading the app, and watching highlights. These points can then be redeemed for merchandise, event tickets, and VIP access. The platform is designed as a "hybrid digital and IRL fan experience" that transforms passive viewership into active participation.

PFL CEO John Martin said that “[The goal] is to engage fans around the world and give them a reason to want to engage with our brand at times and in ways that are not just in and around the events themselves.”

Martin added that Futureverse’s expertise in digital collectibles was a key reason for the partnership.

A key component to PFL rewards is LiveLike, a fan engagement and loyalty business, who have worked with the likes of Chelsea Football Club, LIV Golf, and the New York Mets — who partnered with Futureverse to develop the strategy and lead the platform's development.

Futureverse have gone big on sports and entertainment. The company recently acquired Candy Digital (Partners of Major League Baseball) and secured a partnership with FC Barcelona, as well as having worked with FIFA and Reebok in the past. CEO Aaron McDonald, Co-Founder and CEO said:

Analysis & Concluding Thoughts 🧠 💭

(1) Holistic Approaches vs One-Time NFT Drops

PFL's comprehensive loyalty ecosystem represents a fundamental shift from the one-and-done NFT collections that have plagued sports-crypto partnerships.

Rather than launching expensive digital collectibles with questionable utility, they're building an ongoing engagement platform that rewards consistent fan behaviour passively and actively.

This approach acknowledges that sustainable fan relationships require continuous value delivery, not a castle built on speculative sand.

(2) Revenue and Data Are Key

PFL Rewards creates a direct relationship with fans, bypassing traditional media intermediaries whilst capturing valuable engagement data. This positions PFL to better understand their global audience and potentially unlock new revenue streams through targeted experiences and partnerships.

Right now, stakeholders at rights holders want one of these two boxes ticked at the very least when engaging in a blockchain-powered technology build.

(3) Blockchain Strategy Shift

In years gone by, sports IP utilising blockchain stemmed from one reason alone:

Financial guarantees.

I would say, apart from pure sponsorship plays, those are long gone.

Blockchains especially do not want to pay huge minimum guarantees.

So what does that new paradigm look like?

It looks something like this — whether or not PFL Rewards is a huge success or not.

(4) Partnership Led Development

Working with LiveLike is smart by Futureverse.

LiveLike have been around for a while and have a big roster of brands they already work with on a plethora of fan engagement functions.

And back to (1) —digital collectibles are a feature, not a product, and so being able to plug your technology into something more holistic is the approach to go.

(5) Off The Shelf Solutions

One time solutions are one thing, but finding scale in sports and entertainment has always been a challenge for sports IP when it comes to blockchain-enabled products.

That’s because of the deal-by-deal nature and approach for the most part, of this business.

As Aaron McDonald said: “Now that ‘Pass’ is integrated at LiveLike level, they can easily deploy it out to any of their existing customer base.”

If incentives are aligned, and LiveLike can benefit enough from a partnership like this, then it’s a big unlock for Futureverse

(6) Lean(ish) & Mean

In the past, blockchain foundations have become bloated with business development and account management teams, after spending 8 figures on partnership deals with massive brands.

Think Polygon with Starbucks, Nike and DraftKings.

But that era, for blockchains specifically, has largely gone.

So how do you scale your approach?

For Futureverse they’ve done that through a) Acquisition (Candy Digital) and b) Partnership (LiveLike).

(7) The Question to Be Answered

Will blockchain-enabled widgets and product offerings be enough of a value add from a data or revenue perspective as part of a holistic approach to digital fan engagement?

More Sports & Web3 Stories

• Uptop Partners with LSU Athletics for Geaux Rewards (Read more here)

• SCOR on Sweet and Winners Alliance Launch Cricket Mini-Game (Read more here)

• FIFA Rivals adds Borussia Dortmund to game (Read more here)

• Walrus Foundation and OneFootball Partner (Read more here)

• BTCC Signs NBA Star Jaren Jackson Jr. as Global Ambassador in Its First Sports Deal (Read more here)

• Crypto Wallet Phantom are Sponsors of Alfreton Town FC (Read more here)

• City Fan Labs Launches First Experience in Roblox (Read more here)

General ‘Stuff’ that Could Impact You

• Gaming Blockchain Ronin is Migrating to Become an Ethereum Layer 2 (Read more here)

• Why Circle and Stripe (And Many Others) Are Launching Their Own Blockchains (Read more here)

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