Crypto Corner: The Sports Slice

Last week’s news of Crypto.com’s sponsorship of the Australian Football League continues to resonate throughout sports and crypto headlines, leaving mixed reviews around the new deal. While we highlighted that story in last week’s Slice, we’re on to the latest action this week, covering the biggest stories in sports and cryptocurrency from the past seven days.

Dapper Labs continues to roll out it’s latest products, built primarily on the backbone of Top Shot, Tom Brady’s NFT platform Autograph closes out it’s latest fundraising efforts, and Serena Williams is a new board advisor for one of the biggest sports NFT platforms on the market.

It’s all of these stories, and then some, with each week’s Sports Slice. Let’s jump in.

The Sports Slice

UFC And Dapper Labs Launch NFT Product

UFC Strike, the latest platform debut for leading sports NFT firm Dapper Labs and it’s Flow blockchain, is set to go live today, as the company began making strong marketing strides this week leading up to launch.

The UFC has been no stranger to NFTs, as fighters have been releasing their own, as well as finding blockchain partners left and right. The league previously signed a major multi-year deal with crypto exchange Crypto.com as well, as has launched their own league fan token.

The move for Dapper Labs is the latest in a series of major sports milestones, including the unveiling of their NFL product, NFL All Day.

Serena Williams Joins Sorare As Board Advisor

Tennis legend Serena Williams is joining NFT platform Sorare as an advisor to the company’s board of directors, according to reports that emerged this week. Sorare takes a fantasy-style approach to sports NFTs, and is a dominant player within the NFT market when it comes to European football; Sorare has been looking to build beyond that market lately as well. In a press release, the tennis GOAT stated that Sorare “understand(s) the relationship between athletes and fans unlike anyone else in the category, and I believe Sorare will be setting the culture and tone of the future of sports entertainment.”

Williams is the holder of 23 Grand Slam singles and has been a dominant athlete in sports for over two decades.

Autograph Closes Latest Fundraising With $170M Secured

Tom Brady’s Autograph has announced round of funding this week, reeling in $170M in Series B from the likes of a16z, Kleiner Perkins and other notable firms. Brady has been a notable crypto advocate recently, partnering with FTX and launching Autograph in the last year alone. The Autograph platform has already secured deals with Lionsgate, DraftKings, and Slam Magazine – as well as some of the most prominent athletes in sports leagues that run the gambit. Additionally, Autograph has noteworthy board members that include the likes of FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, Apple’s Eddy Cue, and ‘The Weeknd,’ Abel Tesfaye.

Autograph is arguably the clear leader in athlete-centric NFTs, which have been explored by many others but not to this level. Tiger Woods, Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles, and many more have gotten involved with Autograph’s NFTs, which typically sell out swiftly – leading to stacked rosters for Autograph inside and out. The platform is only 6 months old, but looks to be right on track for strong growth looking ahead.

Related Reading | NFTs In A Nutshell: A Weekly Review

While crypto markets have been taking a major hit to start the year, Dapper Lab's FLOW blockchain token has been no exception. FLOW powers Dapper's more centralized NFT marketplaces that hone in on ease-of-use and powerful IP. | Source: FLOW-USD on TradingView.com

StockX To Add NFTs

Hypebeast and sports athletic wear resale platform StockX is hitting the NFT market, adding new features onto the site to integrate NFTs with real assets. We’ve already seen the likes of Adidas and Nike start to get aggressive in the space, and fashion brands are no stranger as well – while resale outlets like eBay have previously sought to explore NFTs as well. There seems to be plenty of interest and experimentation in these categories.

Esports Finds Host To Another Deal

Guild Esports released a press release this week announcing a new Official Cryptocurrency Exchange partner in Bitstamp, who shelled out over $6M USD as part of a three-year deal. Bitstamp will have jersey rights, social and digital content integration, and other marketing assets to increase brand visibility.

Guild Esports is co-owned by former pro football David Beckham, and is publicly traded in OTC markets, while based in the UK. The organization competes in Fortnight, Valorant, and more.

Related Reading | New Crypto Wallet Launched By Robinhood For 1,000 Users To Test

Featured image from Pexels, Charts from TradingView.com

The writer of this content is not associated or affiliated with any of the parties mentioned in this article. This is not financial advice.