Pudgy Penguins, a globally recognized non-fungible token brand known for creating NFT-inspired toys, has expanded into football through major NFT partnerships with two leading football clubs. The Pudgy Penguins NFT team, which teamed up with Spanish football club CD Castellón last year, has now partnered with English Premier League football club Manchester City. In this article we will explore this expansion journey further.
Chubby penguins’ journey from toys to football
Over the weekend, the Pudgy Penguins team confirmed via its official X account that it has delved deeper into the world of football. Launched in July 2021, the Pudgy Penguins is a digital asset incubation studio known for creating Pudgy Penguins, a globally recognized non-fungible token collection with a fixed set of 8,888 unique digital penguin characters on the Ethereum blockchain network.
🚨PUDGY PENGUINS PARTNERS WITH MANCHESTER CITY
Pudgy Penguins will release a premium collectible for 18+ audiences and merchandise line with Manchester City, tapping into the club’s 300 million+ global fan base. pic.twitter.com/B0HtfgNj2q
— Muntbureau (@coinbureau) January 16, 2026
Pudgy Penguins is also the brainchild behind Lil Pudgy, a non-fungible token series with a fixed supply of 22,222 smaller NFTs hosted on the Ethereum blockchain network, Pudgy Rod, a companion collection of fishing rod NFTs dropped to their original holders in 2021 and now used as multipliers in the ecosystem and soul-bound tokens, non-transferable tokens like ‘Opensea x Penguins SBTs’ launched to recognize community engagement, loyalty and licensing participation.
Pudgy Penguins entered the physical retail space in May 2023 with the release of its first toy line. The collection initially launched online through Amazon, but sold over 20,000 copies in the first 48 hours and generated sales of over $500,000 USD. This was clear evidence of strong demand outside the NFT community. Later that year, the toys were stocked in more than 2,000 Walmart stores in the US, and within twelve months of launch, more than 1 million plushies had been sold worldwide. These plush toys are now available in the United States, Europe, Asia and Hong Kong.
Pudgy Penguins delves deeper into football
The Pudgy Penguins NFT team teamed up with Spanish football club CD Castellón in January 2025 to feature their characters on the team’s official jerseys and shorts. As part of the partnership, an open edition NFT was released, and some holders of that NFT were eligible to appear in some way related to the partnership. The characters Pudgy Penguins and Lil Pudgys appeared directly on the jerseys of CD Castellón.
CD Castellón🇪🇸 x Pudgy Penguins🐧 https://t.co/DgPV0URVMz pic.twitter.com/7jb2Ww8BJ9
— Football Shirt News🌍 (@Footy_ShirtNews) January 24, 2025
In breaking news, the Pudgy Penguins NFT team has announced a “landmark partnership” with English Premier League champions Manchester City to launch a premium co-branded NFT line aimed at an adult audience. This move is considered one of the most notable crossovers between a web3 native brand and a global sports giant, aiming to bring Pudgy Penguins intellectual property to a large, mainstream audience. The merchandise drop was scheduled for January 17, 2026.
These ventures are part of the Pudgy Penguins’ broader strategy to evolve beyond their digital origins and toy lines into a mainstream, global intellectual property (IP) through practical utilities and high-profile brand building, bridging the gap between digital assets and traditional markets. This integration will provide tangible ways for NFT holders to feel part of the brand’s journey, strengthening the holder’s identity and community.
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