The Chicago Journal

Gary Vaynerchuk is taking his VeeFriends NFT to the real world as plushies and vinyl figurines

Leah Cooper Leah Cooper on October 10, 2022

Gary Vaynerchuk made a name for himself by converting his VeeFriends doodles to NFTs, which resulted in a trading volume of over $300 million.

VeeFriends won a Christie’s auction seat, brand partnerships, and a seat at the VeeCon convention in May.

This time around, the project is receiving another update as the characters transform into toys for US department store toy chains.

The toys

VeeFriends will hit shelves this month across Macy’s and Toys “R” Us brands as plush and vinyl figures.

The toys are based on ten VeeFriends characters from the extensive NFT collection.

They were designed in collaboration with Toikido, a toy and entertainment startup.

Characters like Patient Panda, Practical Peacock, and Willful Wizard are randomly distributed in “blind boxes” and end up in people’s homes as real-world collectibles.

The first wave of toys will go on sale on October 17. Potential owners can also order them from the Macy’s, Toys R Us, and VeeFriends websites.

Toys ‘R’ Us

Although Toys R Us was once a popular independent chain, it was forced to close in 2018 after bankruptcy proceedings.

VeeFriends president Andy Krainak said the iconic brand has a special place in Vaynerchuk’s heart as a toy collector and toy flipper.

They shared in a press release that the deal means more to Vaynerchuk than anyone could ever have imagined.

The Series 2 collection

Earlier this year, VeeFriends shared plans to move from NFTs to mainstream products with the launch of the Series 2 collection.

While the first collection was based on Vaynerchuk’s marker-based doodles, the Series 2 NFTs have a more refined look with cartoon-like features.

This was done to provide a backbone for potential VeeFriends products such as clothing, games, packaged food, and more.

Vaynerchuk explained that VeeFriends must “stand up to intellectual property” and resort to more fleshed-out character designs for their creations.

VeeFriends

Despite the expansion, VeeFriends is still based on Vaynerchuk’s focus on inspirational content.

The same goal helped him become a successful author and social media influencer.

As the project ventures into new content products, Krainak said he no longer views the project as an NFT game.

“Today, I think of VeeFriends as a transmedia or multimedia company where we’re doing stories in all forms and fashions,” he explained.

“Any form or medium in which we can bring to life, if you will, the characters and traits that we’re hoping to inspire in others.”

Krainak is also planning other storytelling opportunities for VeeFriends.

With prospects for books, video games, and other formats, he says the company is still in its infancy when it comes to creating everyday online content.

However, the goal is to make community members and the general public fall in love with VeeFriends through story-based initiatives.

Expansion

The launch follows the announcement in July of a $50 million funding round led by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

According to Krainak, the funds will support the expansion after the volatile state of the cryptocurrency market in recent months.

The transition from NFTs to consumer products will be difficult.

Developers generally don’t want to diminish the value or appeal of NFT by appealing to a wider audience.

With VeeFriends, Gary Vaynerchuk and his team decided to reward certain NFT owners with free products like toys and other partnerships, including clothes.

Collectors who have NFTs of characters that transform into toys have until October 18 to request a free version.

They will also get benefits at upcoming toy launch events.

“We’re looking at opportunities to reward our current community and holders as they carry on this journey with us,” said Krainak.

“We are here to build VeeFriends over the next 40 years.”

Reference:

VeeFriends Toys coming to Macy’s Toys R Us as Ethereum NFT brand expands

NFL All Day comes out as a dark horse with more sales generated in the NFT space

Edward Anderson Edward Anderson on October 10, 2022

 

The NFL is the newest sports league to join the NFT space, and the sale of the NFL All Day platform has shown great results.

Since the public launch, NFT’s sales have hit the 24-hour sales chart.

NFL All Day

NFL All Day had months of closed beta development and opened to the public in August.

Developed by Dapper Labs, the officially licensed collection launched alongside the NFL regular season and achieved amazing results.

In the first weeks of the season, surveys showed users buying more stream-based NFTs on Sundays. It is usually played on Sundays.

Sale

The current cryptocurrency bear market is having a significant impact on NFT prices and sales volume.

However, NFL All Day has skyrocketed and sales are increasing.

On September 12 and 19, NFL All Day topped CryptoSlam’s overall 24-hour NFT market rankings.

In a series of exceptional events, NFT managed to outperform Bored Ape Yacht Club and other blue-chip projects.

The average selling price of Bored Apes in September was around $110,000.

The average retail price for the NFL All Day is now $31.

On September 11, the first big slate of the season, the NFL recorded a one-day secondary market worth nearly $1.17 million.

The number showed an increase of almost 283% from the previous day.

The momentum of the platform continued the next day, reaching over $1.1 million on September 12.

This happened on September 18, when the platform managed to generate over $905,000 in NFT sales, a 204% increase from the previous day.

Sales rose slightly to nearly $906,000.

More than two weeks later, Tuesday’s overall sales volume dropped significantly.

As more NFL All Day NFTs have been selling out on Sundays and Mondays, the average retail price has increased over time.

On September 10, over 10,900 NFTs were sold on the platform for $28 each. The next day, nearly 29,400 NFTs were sold at an average price of less than $40.

NFT buy bumps

Dave Feldman, senior vice president of marketing at Dapper Labs, said the company is seeing increased engagement every game day.

Data from CryptoSlam shows a slight increase each day from Wednesday to Thursday since the start of the regular season.

“That doesn’t come as a surprise to us,” Feldman said.

He pointed out a few possible reasons why collectors buy more during games.

According to Feldman, Dapper has completed a playbook feature dedicated to weekly challenges involving acquiring NFTS and interacting with the platform.

Users who complete challenges can earn rewards ranging from NFT packs to cosmetic discounts for their profile, including trophies and banners.

From interacting through social media to playing in fantasy leagues, Feldman sees life in the NFL as a complement to the lives of football fans.

“We’re not asking anyone to change their behavior,” he said.

“Instead, we’re just giving them the opportunity to own a piece of the action that they are already so passionate about.”

Online community traffic

Dave Feldman also credits the playbook feature with increasing traffic for the NFL All Day community.

Week after week since launch, traffic on Discord servers grew by 53%, in line with the first week of the season.

There was also a 65% increase in Discord chat activity.

Dapper Labs

Dapper Labs promotes its NFT collectibles on the official NFL network with ads featuring Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.

The company also uses paid advertising on social networks to attract new users.

NFL All Day follows the same approach as NBA Top Shot, which was successful during the NFT boom in early 2021.

Both platforms take existing video clips of their respective sports and turn them into limited-edition digital collectibles.

However, the two sports are also very different as the NBA offers games throughout the week while NFL games usually take place on Sundays.

Some games are played on Mondays and Thursdays, allowing Dapper Labs to deliver content and announcements on certain days.

Reference:

NFL All Day NFT sales surge on Sundays during football games

The NBA gets a toy revamp with Starting Lineup, the toys now come with an NFT card

Nicholas Alexander Nicholas Alexander on September 26, 2022

 

The NBA is an organization that’s already familiar with the NFT space and will once again receive a significant boost with toys in the early lineup toy line.

Hasbro is relaunching the sports toy line, Starting Lineup, with optimizations for the insertion of NFT cards.

The toy line is restarting with the biggest names in the NBA, including stars like LeBron James and Stephen Curry.

Starting Lineup

The sports toy line exploded in the 1980s when Hasbro offered toy versions of athletes in various sports competitions.

More than two decades after its last mass production, the company is now reviving the brand with new and expensive versions that come with NFT trading cards.

Toy giant Hasbro recently opened pre-orders for the first of the new NBA Starting Lineup collection.

Featured athletes include two of the biggest stars (LeBron James and Stephen Curry), as well as Giannis Antetokounmpo and others.

The Hasbro toy

Hasbro Starting Rig toys have six-inch (15 cm) figures that are much more poseable than the original toys.

However, they also come with a high price tag of $50.

The purchase price includes a toy, a stand, and a pack of NFT cards created by Panini.

NFT

Panini’s NFT card brand has its own private blockchain network.

Panini has previously released digital NFT cards based on the NBA, NFL, and Ultimate Fighting Championship, among others.

Each NFT trading card associated with the toy on the grid has different levels of rarity.

Although a buyer can get a standard NFT card, it is also possible for them to have a rarer red, green, or blue edition with slightly different graphics.

Each player has a gold NFT limited to one card of each color. Whether the shortage of NFTs in Panini’s secondary market leads to higher resale prices remains to be seen.

With the success and demand for rare NBA TopShot NFTs in the past, the NFT chase could be a compelling aspect of the new promise of value.

The toy was announced earlier this year in collaboration with toy giant Fanatics.

Reference:

Remember Starting Lineup NBA action figures? They’re back — with NFTs

Ubisoft backtracks on their NFT enthusiasm, says company is in ‘research mode’

Jason Robinson Jason Robinson on September 19, 2022

While non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been successful since their appearance in 2021, they have also received criticism online.

Even the big brands that jumped on the NFT hype have faced backlash from fans, and Ubisoft is the latest to find out what that feels like.

Ubisoft

Yves Guillemot, CEO of the gaming giant, seems to be detracting from the company’s enthusiasm for NFTs.

The decision comes months after a steep downturn for Ubisoft’s NFT project, Quartz.

In a recent interview, he said the company was in “research mode” regarding web3 technology integrations.

Previous enthusiasm

Guillemot’s words are far from what Ubisoft executives said earlier.

In October, CFO Frederick Duguet said blockchain integration would allow users to own and earn content.

Duguet also noted that Ubisoft wants to be “one of the key players here.”

Backtrack on sentiments

In an interview on Saturday, Guillemot pointed out that the company’s current focus is to determine how NFTs are applied to games and the potential benefits they bring to players.

“We are very much on cloud, on the new generation of voxels, and we’re looking at all the Web3 capabilities,” he said.

“We tested a few things recently that are giving us more information on how it can be used and what we should do in the universe of video games.”

“So we are testing ground with some games and we’ll see if they really answer the players’ needs,” he added.

“But we are still in research mode, I would say.”

First push with NFT

Ubisoft got involved in NFTs last December when they released a beta version of Ubisoft Quartz.

Ubisoft Quartz was developed to provide playable NFT discs for use in games such as Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

The decision has drawn heavy criticism from members of the gaming community, especially those firmly opposed to NFTs.

Critics have accused the company of “milking” every penny possible from its popular game franchises with the release of NFT.

Nicolas Pouard, vice president of Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovations Lab, defended the NFT’s efforts.

“I think gamers don’t get what a digital secondary market can bring to them,” he said.

Referring to the company’s NFT implementation, Guillemot says the companies ultimately failed to effectively communicate their approach to the project.

“We probably were not good at saying we are researching this,” he explained.

“We should have said we were working on it, and when we have something that gives you a real benefit, we’ll bring it to you.”

Gamers also urged Ubisoft’s CEO on the environmental impact of blockchain technology.

Since the NFT boom, gamers have generally confused power-hungry Proof-of-work (PoW) chains as the industry standard for all projects.

Guillemot also said he was cautious about the industry’s impact on the environment, adding that he was optimistic that the problems would be resolved over time.

“Like so many things, at the beginning it’s not as good as it could be, but like other new technologies they will find the right way.”

Reference:

Ubisoft cools off on NFT and blockchain, says it’s in ‘research mode’

Metaverse band Kingshift recruits two Grammy-winning producers onboard

Jason Robinson Jason Robinson on September 19, 2022

The NFT space was deepened with the development of Kingship, a partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club.

The virtual group within the Metaverse recently reached out to music producers who have helped the stars create hits to further their cause.

Veteran producers Chauncey “Hit-Boy” Hollis and James Fauntleroy will be serving as co-executive producers.

They will also be the writers of the band Bored Ape and work on creating music for NFT-inspired characters in the videos and worlds of the Metaverse.

Kingship

Céline Joshua of Universal Music Group’s 22:22 label founded the Kingship project. Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFT.

The NFTs are licensed by famed collector Jimmy “j1mmy” McNelis.

The group’s concept can easily draw similarities with the legendary virtual band Gorillaz.

The main difference is that Kingship is created with a handful of valuable NFTs as the starting material.

The producers

Hit-Boy is a well-known hip-hop producer and three-time Grammy winner.

He has produced hits for some of the biggest names in the music industry today, including Beyonce, Kanye West, Rihanna, Jay Z and Ariana Grande.

Meanwhile, Fauntleroy is as successful as his counterpart.

He’s a four-time Grammy winner and songwriter who’s lent his creativity to big names like Bruno Mars, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake.

Fauntleroy has also produced music for other musicians.

A taste of Kingship

In August, Kingship released a teaser video to promote global candy giant M&M’s.

The teaser gave people an idea of ​​what their musical contribution to the project would look like.

Previously, Kingship released an NFT project that launched 5,000 Ethereum dongles offering special access to exclusive content and future token experiences.

Bored Ape Yacht Club

Since the NFT boom in 2021, no other project has made more noise than Bored Ape Yacht Club.

The project has managed to generate billions in trading volume.

At the same time, its popularity has caught the attention of several big names, including celebrities and athletes.

Yuga Labs, the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club, raised $450 million earlier this year at a $4 billion valuation.

They are currently working on a Metaverse game called Otherside.

Reference:

Bored Ape NFT Metaverse band taps Beyonce, Bruno Mars producers

The news from David Bowie’s estate incites criticism for the singer/actor’s NFT decision

Jason Robinson Jason Robinson on September 12, 2022

The late David Bowie was one of the most influential figures to grace the big and small screens and radio in the music and entertainment industries.

As an influential figure, Bowie’s name is not easily forgotten, and now his legacy seeks to commemorate him in the digital world, especially with Bowie-inspired NFTs.

The announcement

The David Bowie Estate recently announced that it will launch Bowie-inspired NFTs using OpenSea next week.

The NFTs will be part of NFT Bowie’s launch on the blockchain and will feature works by nine different visual artists.

Proceeds from the collection will be donated to CARE, a non-profit organization whose mission is to end hunger and poverty in the world.

Before his death, Bowie was married to Somali model Iman, a global advocate for CARE.

OpenSea also shared the news on Twitter, writing:

“On September 13th, David Bowie’s undying influence will impact yet another new frontier as nine of the world’s leading crypto-artists come together to celebrate his legacy and put #BowieOnTheChain.”

Ryan Foutty, Vice President of Business Development at OpenSea, also released a statement stating:

“This incredible collection brings together some of the most groundbreaking NFT artists with Bowie artifacts to bring a new generation of fans together in Web3.”

The project features works by famous artists, including director Joaquin Acrich and the company of artistic director Andrew D. Keller We Love the Arts.

Response to David Bowie’s NFTs

Since the NFT boom early last year, many have criticized the function of digital assets.

Despite the criticism, many projects have sprung up that pay homage to pop culture, including Netflix’s Stranger Things NFT.

The release of NFT prompted fans to share their disdain for technology.

When it comes to Bowie’s NFT, people have turned to social media to express the likeness of the legendary artist in the context of blockchain tokens.

In response to the announcement on David Bowie’s official account, a Twitter user named Bashmore said:

“How about we just don’t with the NFT guff and just raise money for charity without using a pyramid scheme?”

Bowie’s son, Duncan Jones, is also critical of NFTs.

In December 2021, he tweeted a photo of Beeple’s “The First 5,000 Days” and wrote:

“I just saw this online and posted it without having the NFT .. do you think the guy who bought it has lost it? I feel kind of guilty and like I should probably return it to them.”

Despite the negative reactions, others shared their enthusiasm for the project, especially the artists working on David Bowie’s works.

Fewocious, 19, shared a photo of his sculpture on Twitter, writing, “I can’t wait to show you the rest of the piece when it reveals this Thursday.”

References:

David Bowie Ethereum NFTs trigger Twitter backlash

LG Electronic advances in the NFT race with LG Art Lab

Jason Robinson Jason Robinson on September 7, 2022

LG Electronics held a press conference months earlier and announced plans to add NFT functionality to its Smart TV.

On Monday, LG launched its LG Art Lab NFT platform, allowing users to find, buy, sell and trade NFTs on LG smart TVs.

LG Art Lab

LG Electronics’ NFT platform is available in the US for LG TVs running webOS 5.0 or later updates.

The LG Art Lab is accessible directly from the main screen.

The company has partnered with the Hedera network to create an app that will allow users to purchase NFTs through Wallypto, LG’s crypto wallet for smartphones.

“Wallypto, built on Hedera, has been developing since September 2021,” said Chris Jo, the senior vice president and head of platform business at LG Electronics.

“Its beta version of the wallet launched this week in August.”

Hedera and Wallypto

LG Electronics and Hedera formed a partnership two years ago when LG Electronics joined Hedera’s board of directors, which includes Deutsche Telekom, Google, IBM and the Indian Institute of Technology, among others.

Hedera uses a Distributed Ledger System (DLS) as an alternative to the Hashgraph blockchain that offers maximum speeds, highly functional smart contracts, high energy efficiency, and transaction costs of fractions of a penny.

The electronics giant filed Wallypto’s patent early last month.

NFT Platform Features

LG Art Lab offers a Drop feature that includes artists and previews of their latest works.

The Live Drops feature also notifies users and helps them purchase a recently listed NFT to keep them updated on new opportunities.

According to Jo, Hedera allows users to transact for less than $ 0.0001 cents since they don’t have high gas fees or hidden fees on the platform.

“The Hedera Network consumes vastly less energy than any other public ledger, making it the ideal choice for sustainable initiatives and meaning that it can meet the ESG of modern businesses and investors,” said Jo.

Users can enjoy the NFT experience on the Hedera network without worrying about the high power consumption of other public networks.

Hedera also guarantees users low and predictable costs compared to other decentralized networks.

The NFT race

LG Electronics isn’t the first TV maker to delve into the NFT TV business, as Samsung partnered with the Nifty Gateway market earlier this year.

In January, the company announced that users can view, buy, trade and look out for NFTs on its smart TV interface.

The Samsung NFT platform is supported on 2022 models of Samsung TVs, including MICRO LED, Neo QLED, and Frame TV.

References:

LG Electronics launches NFT platform that lets users buy and sell digital artwork

LG Electronics launches new NFT marketplace ‘LG Art Labs’

FIFA+ Collect, FIFA and Algorand’s NFT platform collaboration leading to the 2022 World Cup

Claire Peterson Claire Peterson on September 5, 2022

Recently, football’s global governing body, FIFA, announced that it will launch an NFT platform with football-themed digital collectibles.

The announcement came in time as the 2022 World Cup approaches.

FIFA+ Collect

The FIFA NFT platform will be called FIFA+ Collect and will be launched at the end of this month.

The platform offers affordable, accessible and inclusive NFTs that showcase some of the best moments of this beautiful sport.

Once the World Cup takes place in Qatar at the end of November, moments from the world football tournament will likely be transformed into digital collectibles.

FIFA Commercial Director Romy Gai released a statement stating:

“Just like sports memorabilia and stickers, this is an accessible opportunity for fans around the world to engage with their favorite players, moments, and more on new platforms.”

Blockchain

FIFA+ Collect runs on the Algorand blockchain, a proof-of-stake alternative to Ethereum and Solana.

The Algorand blockchain was developed by MIT professor Silvio Micali.

In May, the Algorand blockchain made FIFA its lead partner in a timely World Cup deal.

The deal covers the Women’s World Cup 2023 and takes it a long way on the FIFA+ Collect platform with momentum.

Blockchain has taken a narrow and more defined approach to partnership agreements, rather than casting a wide net in the hope of reaching an agreement.

Outside of FIFA, sports facilities in the blockchain ecosystem are largely inactive, with limited exposure to transactions involving less physical sports like chess and drone racing.

Algorand

The blockchain platform made headlines earlier this year after acquiring Napster, a digital music sharing service.

It also partnered with LimeWire, one of the first peer-to-peer music sharing services, to launch a music-centric NFT market with songs from Universal Music Group-affiliated artists.

Despite the size of their deal, Algorand will not be alone in Doha.

In early March, Crypto.com announced that it would be the exclusive sponsor of the World Cup.

However, the company could limit its sports partnership program.

Last week, the company reportedly dropped a $495 million sponsorship deal with UEFA, the European Champions League.

More information

Details of the FIFA + Collect collections will be announced as soon as they are released. NFT-like teasers will also be released during the World Cup.

In addition, the NFT platform will also be streamed on FIFA+, the organization’s platform for football news, live matches and original content.

References:

FIFA launches NFT platform on Algorand in run-up to World Cup

FIFA to launch new NFT platform in partnership with Algorand

Bad Astro Society: Bringing the NFT Community to Real-Life Outer Space by 2030

Claire Peterson Claire Peterson on August 31, 2022

What makes the metaverse so exciting is its limitless nature. Virtually anything that anyone can imagine can be brought to fruition. This time, one revolutionary NFT venture is set to push the boundaries of the industry with its highly ambitious mission – Bad Astro Society.

It is a collection of 10,000 non-fungible tokens that come with a ton of useful utilities such as memes, meta plays, parties, and merchandise, as well as extravagant and out-of-this-world experiences. But perhaps what the community and avid NFT enthusiasts are looking forward to the most about the up-and-coming project is its commitment to bringing all of its token holders to outer space by 2030.

This massive undertaking is the first of its kind in the NFT space. After all, despite having so many outer space-themed ventures, none of them had the guts to take the community there. As the dynamic founders of Bad Astro Society excellently pointed out, “There are currently no other projects out there claiming to send all of its NFT holders to real-life outer space. We can’t find any other NFT project that is using the crypto and NFT markets to benefit their holders to this degree. As for the art, it speaks for itself. Bad Astros have a great time doing what they want.”

By harnessing the power of Web3 and the metaverse, the outstanding enterprise has effectively democratized the space experience. As it stands, space travel is incredibly costly, amounting to over $450,000 per person. But with Bad Astro Society, token holders will have a chance to reach the fabled new frontier.

The venture has already prepared an excellent plan to fulfill its goal, as explained on its website: “There are only six to eight seats on a rocket. So we plan to buy all the Bad Astros a ticket to space by 2030, locking in all the seats for space travel for years to come. If the rich want a ticket, they will have to buy a Bad Astro from one of our members.”

Aside from its astronomical vision, the collection also features exquisite art curated from over 150 hand-drawn traits. In addition to that, every piece showcases a vibrant array of colors and patterns. Four types of Bad Astros can be minted: Regular Astro Suit, Pimp Suit, Hoodie, and Gorilla. 

“The Bad Astro has ten different background variations which communicate differing circumstances. Each holds an object that communicates something fun, larger than life, and/or history-altering concepts. Examples of objects in hands are the earth and other heavenly bodies, a bitcoin, a rainbow, etc.,” its creative team shared. 

Although the project’s concept is heavily influenced by going to space, it also has a more profound belief rooted in people’s resilience. As the brilliant minds that developed the collection said, “The point here is to communicate that you can own your future regardless of your circumstances. You can overcome and join those who have risen above their hardships, and now do whatever they want…like go to freaking space.” This inspiring perspective is something that they wish to promote within the community.

Bad Astro Society is undoubtedly the NFT space’s next big thing. As such, NFT collectors, space enthusiasts, and anyone who wishes to become part of history should keep an eye out for its upcoming mint. In the meantime, people can get updates from the project’s social media accounts on Instagram, Twitter, and Discord. 

Ripper Skipper 2022 NFT, the AFL NFT collection, sells out in hours

Leah Cooper Leah Cooper on August 29, 2022

The Australian Football League or AFL recently released an NFT collection called the Ripper Skipper 2022 NFT which sold out as soon as it went online.

Earlier this year, the AFL announced a five-year partnership with Animoca and Be Media, suggesting that NFTs would be released in the future.

Skipper Ripper NFT

AFL NFTs are based on the captains of the teams in the league.

There are a total of 78 “great moments” for future owners to collect, each with different highlights with the AFL team skippers in the 2021 season.

NFTs are more than just portraits of captains; they also include a video clip and audio of the captain in action.

Each NFT package offers potential owners a 90% chance to get community cards, 8% for Deluxe cards, and 2% for Ovation cards.

The packages are retailed at $ 34.39 USDC and the project is estimated to have raised over $ 130,000 USDC.

The launch

The 2022 NFT Ripper Skipper launched Wednesday as part of the AFL Mint program.

The program allows people who are members of the “white list” to purchase one of the 3,800 drop-only packages.

Once NFTs became active, they were sold out in less than 12 hours. the packages

Ripper Skipper NFT packs also have a 10% chance of granting a special Genesis Ball NFT with extra utility between the three cards.

With the utility, AFL Mint plans to evolve through the addition of certain NFTs in the hopes of engaging experiences for AFL fans.

The plans include game day events, unique content, and metaverse hangouts with the players.

Executives

Kylie Rogers, Executive General Manager Customer and Commercial at AFL, is excited about the possibilities with the NFTs. He said:

“Through our AFL Mint brand, we will launch exciting new moments across our men’s and women’s competitions, plus celebrate past greats and other product releases that will bring a unique fan experience we haven’t seen before.”

Jordan Fogarty, the CEO of Be Media, and Yat Siu, the executive chairman of Animoca, echoed the views on the NFT decline, with both bringing up the word “excited” multiple times.

Other Notes

The launch of the Ripper Skipper 2022 NFTs shows that the AFL is following in the footsteps of other international sports codes who have delved into Web3. NBA Top Shot received critical acclaim in 2020, and earlier this year the UFC presented UFC Strike.

Ripper Skipper 2022 is not alone as other Australian sports codes have done the same.

Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) both signed multi-year licensing agreements with Singapore-based collectors platform Rario and trading company NFT BlockTrust in April.

The Queensland Rugby League has also deposited 10,000 NFTs called The Ultimate Queenslander NFTs on the Flow blockchain.

References:

AFL’s first limited-edition NFT drop sells out in under 12 hours

Ripper Skipper: the AFL launches its first set of limited-edition NFTs