A brief look at Sports NFTs
“Web3 is not just a tech movement. It’s a cultural one.”
Slowly, but surely, the tide moves in. I assume most of you reading this have some general historical background to everything blockchain. If not, just know that the early internet era (Web1) didn’t fully grasp the cultural revolutions that were possible until they were already here (aka Twitter, FaceBook, Web2, etc). With Web3, the players that can see beyond the BAYC drama and critiques from Line Goes Up are already moving to be the next billionaires, or already are, in a new market. Gary Vaynerchuk was one of the OGs of the internet where he was able to make a fortune by understanding the technology and how it could be incorporated into cultural events. Thus, leading him to found his media company, VaynerMedia. Now, he’s already one of the biggest leaders in Web3 and positioning himself to be one of the biggest influencers of the Sports market at large with VaynerSports. Which makes sense, as Sports enhances social and cultural life by bringing together individuals and communities to rally around a common idea.
Gary’s latest venture is the VaynerSportsPass. An NFT access pass aimed at meshing together art, athlete access, and experiences both digital and real. Unlike the usual ‘wen utility’ this was aimed exclusively at utility, and how much could be packed into it. NFT owners gain access through a metalink and Discord to receive one-on-one time with favorite athletes, and opportunities to attend IRL events such as the Superbowl (‘feature pending’). A fair amount of this access is through general partnerships and connections. However, Gary is being proactive by buying into new ventures such as BIG3 basketball aiming to be a professional 3v3 game for basketball fans that’s being led by Ice Cube. The purchase itself also involved fractionalized NFTs that act as ownership.
If you’re interested in VSP you’ll need to join Discord. Minting was short and fast.
VaynerInc is just one of the most recent NFT related entrepreneurs to pop up. Maybe more well-known is Tom Brady and the somewhat infamous Autograph. Back in April 2021 Brady was able to make a partnership with ESPN to make NFTs exclusively for the Sports News Org. The whole concept is a bit wild wild when considering the logistics of the project. At face value we simply see an autograph, but believe it or not each NFT is an individual signature. Brady and Co send athletes a special ipad and pen that records each signature. So if Brady himself releases 50 NFTs then each one is a different signature he created. The idea is fresh compared to some of the copy/paste or auto generated NFTs that flood the markets.
One of the more prominent projects (since OBG is at UO) that’s been released is the Flying Formations NFT connected to the University of Oregon. The recent rulings from the supreme court regarding college athletes and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) means that athletes now have the ability to sell their own brand.
Division Street (DS) is the firm taking the lead on this project which is being headed by a powerhouse of former NIKE executives handpicked by Phil Knight himself. While entering the fray as an NIL agency they wanted to also make a double entry by moving into the Web3 space with NFTs. DS and Phil were able to tap the legendary sneaker designer Tinker Hatfield to lead the design on the NFT that features the Duck from UO.
Unlike the VaynerSportsPass, utility is currently slim. However, there is another feature in store. Tinker pulled double duty by also designing a limited release, one of a kind shoes just for the NFT release. The genius of a physical release paired with the hype of one of the biggest university mascots is somewhat genius.
What makes this project a little more interesting is that the purpose of DS and NIL is to help athletes make additional money. Roughly 60% of the funds generated from auction went to UO Football players and another 10% went to the remaining athletes. While the Football team received the bulk of this payout DS wants to rotate the money to all sports. Their upcoming NFT for Title 9 is completely focused on the ladies of UO athletics. This one is yet to be announced, so if you’re interested there is time to get in on the action.
These three projects are ones that I’m personally keeping my eye on. But, like all NFT projects there’s always grifters and scammers waiting to take you for all your worth. StadiumTalk made a ranking of the top 30 most expensive sports NFTs with David Beckham’s trading card at position 30. The site claims the NFT is valued at $430k, but it’ to see on OpenSea that the last bid was a little over 1 ETH. This doesn’t look particularly good for the general NFT scene considering the number of companies that have inflated their own bottom lines by performing wash sales.
https://www.stadiumtalk.com/s/most-expensive-sports-nfts-4ec81173615c44ba
Regardless of if you’re interested in sports, or even NFTs, the community aspects are truly amazing. I’ve had the opportunity to meet some very amazing people that are getting into the scene. This is what’s truly amazing about the whole cultural movement is that rallies people into what they love and what they want to be a part of. If you have the time, check out one of the projects above.
