We've managed to get an interview with one of the biggest Sorare content creators, John Nellis. Check his Sorare content out on his Youtube Channel and/or his Twitter: @JohnNellis. John has been popping up on my Youtube short playlist since the World Cup and is a veteran of fantasy football and Sorare. He recently went full-time on content creation. Reasons enough to ask a few questions about Sorare.
First of all John congratulations on the switch from being employed to being a self-employed content creator. A switch that would give me some anxiety, to be honest. But we can say the decision paid off, going from 100K to over 200K in less than a month. I've seen you call it "the biggest decision you've ever made". How hard was that decision and what was the tilting point that made you say "I'm all in"?
John: "It was so hard that it was the hardest I have ever made, honestly. I mulled it over for almost a year until I finally made the call. The career I walked away from is what made it so difficult. Air traffic controllers are paid very well and get lots of time off work, that time is what allowed me to do this on the side for so long in the first place. Funny enough, the thing that actually made me hand in my notice was that they rostered me to work the entirety of Christmas, and I saw clearer than ever that I didn't want to work for someone else anymore."
If my research is correct you're on the platform since September 2020, what have been the key elements to Sorare successes so far and their pitfalls for the future?
John: "I think they have moved incredibly fast, making it very hard for any potential competitor to compete. It feels they have a monopoly on the web 3 fantasy football market, and the NBA & MLB are similar. Above all, the game is really good. The scoring matrix is the best I have ever played, to the extent that I would play it even if money wasn't involved."
With great power, comes great responsibility. How do you find balance in being a content creator and/or influencing the Sorare market?
John: "I don't think I impact the market too much. I don't claim to be an expert and share my terrible trades as much as my great ones. It can be different when you do scouting content with league experts, but that's what the people want, so you just have to give it to them and whatever happens, happens. I think I just ensure there are no leaks in the content before it is posted and I don't trade
the players pumped in the videos."
We all have a few cards which we have, for lack of a better word, an emotional band with. For me, it's my biggest loss (so far) Sho Inagaki. What are the 'special' cards in your gallery and why?
John: "Dani Parejo. It's a long old story, but in short - I lost a lot of money on a previous platform betting on Dani Parejo. My community loved to wind me up about it and it was a bit of fun, then in GW200 I won his special edition card, it felt like fate haha... So I went on a Dani Parejo limited collecting spree, including all his special editions and his 1/1000."
If you would sell your complete gallery and start all over again with all that eth to spend, how would you play the game? What would you change or keep?
John: "I would shoot as high as possible and trickle down to fill the other divisions. I think it's natural to start at the bottom and try to progress up the divisions, but based on reward structures, I feel that on my gallery's value, I would shoot for unique and trickle down.'
We wouldn't be ChasingChilavert if we didn't ask for your view on the goalkeepers of course. With more and more gk available on the platform, it becomes accessible for many to buy a goalkeeper, what's your thought on the evolution of their prices?
John: "I'll be completely honest, I'm one of those early guys who hasn't bought a GK in what seems like forever. I got a handful of rare GK's, bought the limited I needed and now I really only hold new keepers I win, so I don't tend to have an eye on the market. The only time recently I broke this was when I bought a SR Hradecky. When Sorare announced the SR threshold & the removal of rare GK's from the super rare division, I knew immediately that the impact would be a SR GK bottleneck, so I snap bought him without much thought. I think when we see the thresholds implemented across all divisions, the more scarce GK's will be borderline impossible to get your hands on."
There are not that many playing u23 gk, how do you try to find those next hidden gems amongst the gk? What are the key elements to consider?
John: "I tend to focus on a path to #1. Talent is incredible but without a clear path to starting you could be in for a 2-3 year wait, or longer on a lot of the sub 20 y/o GK's. A current starter being linked away or injury prone can be easy paths in, you'll still need a lot of luck, but at least it's possible. Also, when you have a larger gallery you can afford to sit on some of the young guys longer term, it's much harder for new players as you need every penny going into the starting team from day 1."
And last but not least. Which goalkeeper would you recommend that our readers should do research on and why?
John: "First off, I am no GK expert, but long term, I like Tobe Leysen. He has that clear path, with Vandevoordt heading to Leipzig in 2024, I've also heard he's incredibly talented from someone I trust."
Check Johns Sorare content out on his Youtube Channel and/or his Twitter: @JohnNellis.
Thanks again John!