Cristiano Ronaldo in collaboration with Valencia C.F club owner, Peter Lim launched a unique football tech initiative called ZujuGP. The Portuguese superstar is well known to have been named as a promoter for numerous business deals is now set to be the face of the ZujuGP as the platform’s promoter.
Ronaldo took to his social media in acknowledging the partnership by peppering his handle with posts tagged #WritingThe FutureOfFootball which was linked to ZujuGP’s website. The startup is aiming to drive communication and commerce worldwide for fans across the globe, enabling them to watch live games virtually, buy merchandise, engage with players and bet.
ZujuGP does promise a lot of things to come. Through ZujuGP fans will be able to watch games together and collaborate in a fully functioning economy that spans the real and digital worlds. The company terms it as footballverse. It will also feature a digital football academy that offers performance training and specialist drills.
Ronaldo, who has 356 million Instagram followers and 95 million Twitter followers, appeared in a ZujuGP advertisement where he transformed into a Chinese warrior. His changing face masks signal the changing face of football as audience shifts, revenues fluctuate and digitization and failed breakaways disrupt the industry, according to the company.
“The East and the West can finally connected, which makes me feel even more happy,” said Ronaldo in his latest Instagram post as he unveiled ZujuGP.
The users on ZujuGP will be able to purchase credits on the platform, which would then be used to interact in the context of live football matches. Credits would also be used to buy exclusive merchandise or to bid for a private audience with pundits or the other prominent football personalities on the platform.
Peter Lim looks at Asia as the next big market for football. The region is home to 60% of the world’s population, the rapid increase of popularity for the sport presents an opportunity in a huge market for European games and products.