The partnership between Cristiano Ronaldo and Binance began in 2022, when the NFT market was at the peak of public interest. At the time, athletes, clubs, musicians and major brands were actively launching digital collections, while NFTs were seen as a new way to engage with audiences and, at the same time, as potentially valuable digital assets. For Binance, the collaboration with Ronaldo was an opportunity to introduce Web3 to a multimillion-strong audience of football fans, while for the athlete himself, it was a way to expand his personal brand in the digital environment. By 2026, attitudes towards NFTs had changed considerably, making the history of this partnership a good example of what remained of the sports NFT boom after the initial hype subsided.
How Ronaldo’s NFTs Evolved
The first CR7 NFT Collection appeared on Binance in November 2022. It featured digital statues of Ronaldo associated with different stages of his football career. The NFTs varied in rarity, while owners of certain tokens could receive additional benefits, including access to giveaways, merchandise or special content. At the time, the limited nature of the collection itself played an important role: users were purchasing not simply an image, but a blockchain-verified digital object available in limited quantities.
However, subsequent projects demonstrated that rarity alone was not enough. In 2023, Binance launched the ForeverCR7: The GOAT collection, dedicated to some of the footballer’s iconic goals. It introduced more tangible practical benefits, including signed shirts, exclusive video content, tickets and opportunities to enjoy unique experiences directly connected with Ronaldo. As a result, NFTs gradually evolved from standalone digital collectibles into tools providing access to specific privileges.
From a Digital Collectible to a Real-World Experience
This trend became particularly evident with the Forever Worldwide: The Road to Saudi Arabia collection, released in 2024. The NFTs were linked to different stages of Ronaldo’s career — Madeira, Lisbon, Manchester, Madrid, Turin, Saudi Arabia and Portugal. Owners could receive additional content, participate in giveaways for sports memorabilia and compete for tickets.
The rarest NFTs offered significantly more substantial opportunities, including a personal meeting with Ronaldo and attendance at a match. This clearly demonstrates how the very concept of sports NFTs changed. Initially, the main value was considered to be ownership of a rare digital item. Later, the focus shifted towards what that item could provide to its owner. NFTs began to function as digital passes to experiences, content and interaction with the athlete.
A similar approach was used in the ForeverSkills project, where digital items were dedicated to Ronaldo’s well-known football skills. Alongside them, users could receive educational content, participate in giveaways for signed shirts and gain access to masterclasses. As a result, blockchain technology remained important, but it was no longer the main selling point for buyers.
Why Sports NFTs Lost Their Former Scale
The main problem with the early NFT market was that its growth was largely driven by expectations that digital collections would increase in value. Users purchased tokens not only because of their interest in a particular athlete, but also in the hope of reselling them later. When the market cooled, it became clear that not every digital object could maintain demand solely because of its scarcity.
This was particularly important for the sports industry. Fans traditionally value physical items and real-world experiences: a signed shirt, a ticket to an important match, a meeting with a player or access to an exclusive event. Therefore, the most sustainable model proved to be one in which NFTs do not attempt to replace such things, but instead provide access to them or complement them.
Ronaldo’s projects with Binance gradually moved in precisely this direction. As the partnership developed, less emphasis was placed exclusively on digital scarcity and more on functionality, special opportunities and interaction with the footballer himself.
What Changed by 2026
By 2026, NFTs no longer occupied the same position within the Binance ecosystem as they did during the 2021–2022 boom. In June 2026, the company announced that it would discontinue support for its previous NFT service directly on Binance Exchange and move activities involving such assets to Binance Wallet. This does not mean a complete withdrawal from NFTs, but it clearly demonstrates a shift in priorities: digital collections moved from being one of the central mass-market products into more specialised Web3 infrastructure.
At the same time, Binance’s collaboration with Ronaldo was not limited exclusively to the sale of NFTs. Over time, the footballer began to serve as a broader ambassador for Binance’s Web3 initiatives and brand. This is an important difference compared with the beginning of the partnership. In 2022, the main focus was on launching collectible tokens, whereas later greater importance was placed on Ronaldo’s ability to introduce a huge sports audience to digital products and the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
What Remains of the Era of Sports NFTs
By 2026, it had become clear that sports NFTs had not disappeared completely, but their original model had changed considerably. A blockchain record and limited supply alone are now rarely perceived as sufficient value. Users need additional meaning: access to exclusive content, participation in events, physical items, special privileges or the opportunity to interact with an athlete.
The story of Cristiano Ronaldo and Binance clearly reflects this transformation. The project began as a classic bet on the popularity of NFTs and digital collecting, but gradually evolved into a model in which the token is not the end product but rather a tool for gaining access. This is the main legacy of the sports NFT era: the technology has remained, but its role has changed.
The market is no longer built around the idea that any limited digital object associated with a famous name will automatically acquire significant value. Practical utility and an emotional connection with a brand or athlete have come to the forefront. Therefore, in 2026, the Ronaldo and Binance case is interesting not so much as the story of a successful NFT drop, but as an example of sports Web3 shifting from speculative scarcity towards genuine fan experiences.
