The National Basketball Association was the first professional sports league in America to really embrace non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The NBA as well as the NBA Player’s Association (NBPA) partnered with Dapper Labs to develop NBA Top Shot, a blockchain platform offering NFT trading cards called “moments.” Dapper Labs raised an additional $250 million in funding in September of 2021, indicating that digital collectibles may be here to stay within the sports industry.
Also in September, the National Football League announced its own partnership with Dapper Labs.
“We believe blockchain technology has great potential to enhance the NFL fan experience in the future and we are excited to have Dapper Labs as one of our first collaborators in exploring this emerging space,” said Joe Ruggiero, Senior Vice President of Consumer Products at the NFL.
The NFL equivalent to NBA Top Shot will be called NFL All Day and it is set to launch soon. After initially stating that the NFT experience would “launch later this season,” a waiting list to sign up for the platform has now been established for those fans interested in joining. Perhaps the league is planning on timing the NFT release to coincide with Super Bowl LVI, which will take place on February 13th at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Similar setup— It is expected that NFL All Day NFTs will function in the same way that NBA Top Shot does. Both platforms make use of Dapper Lab’s Flow blockchain and if anything can be concluded from the official site, it will also use a similar interface. Fans will be able to purchase randomized packs of “Moments,” with some NFTs being rarer than others. The whole user experience is designed to provide the digital equivalent to physical card collecting.
Since the National Football League Players Association is involved in the partnership, it is expected that some big-name players will promote the new venture. The NFLPA also recently announced a partnership with Upland to mint players 3D design NFTs.
Whereas NBA Top Shot exploded early last year, the popularity started decreasing further along in 2021. A similar pattern may also unfold for NFL All Day. Both leagues’ partnerships with Dapper Labs are not to be confused with Ticketmaster’s own sports-related NFT partnerships. The ticketing service has worked with the NFL and the Dallas Mavericks to commemorate individual games by way of virtual tickets.
As a result of NFTs inserting themselves into the broader sports equation and the legalization of sports betting in New York, the opportunity to monetize one’s fandom or passion for sports in general has never been easier.
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