Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you would have noticed that NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, have taken the world by storm. From high profile art sales, such as Beeple’s $69 million trade for his collection, to the Kings of Leon launching the first NFT album, it seems wherever you look crypto and NFTs are taking over. One area where this trend has been incredibly active is in the sporting world.
A New Goldrush
The first major branded NFT sports collaboration was the NBA’s Top Shot NFT webstore. Other major American franchises, such as the NFL, are rapidly following suit in opening up its equivalent - NFL All Day. But what exactly do these shops sell? The short answer is whatever they want, as NFTs can be understood as a new form of digital copywriting. This is how it’s possible for Jack Dorsey to put his first tweet up for sale, as the new owner will effectively have a certificate of ownership stored on the Ethereum blockchain. In terms of sports NFTs, most of the activity has become centered on the selling off of famous video clips from classic games, effectively turning moments in time into sports memorabilia. As such it’s easy to see why sports franchises want in on the action, as they stand to make huge amounts of money off selling off unique artworks and prized video clips.
Gaming and NFTs
One area where we can expect to see NFTs and major British clubs collide is by way of franchise video games. With respect to the tentatively titled FIFA 23, rumours of a major rebrand of the long running series at the hands of publishers EA Sports may pave the way for fresh implementations of new features, among them NFTs. With EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson going on record as stating that NFTs are “the future of our industry”, the time may be ripe for deeper integration between blockchain and everyone’s favourite footie sim. NFTs are even serving as a direct inspiration to certain games, with rumours of former Call of Duty and Halo developers working on an NFT focused FPS; they look set to join the likes of NFT Megaways, a slots title bearing the advanced megaways algorithm available on reputable platforms, in further valorising 2022’s tech buzzword champion. With these moves underway, one may reasonably question whether a wholly NFT-focused football title will emerge in the coming year.
There are also questions as to what degree NFTs could be used as crossovers, such as, for example, a prized NBA video clip serving as an unlockable key for in-game items in NBA 2K. Many feel this is the direction we will likely head in, but it’s too early to say whether this type of integration will gain traction, or find a viable market among the public.
EPL Courted
So when are we likely to see choice moments in Leeds’ history floating on the blockchain? To date, the EPL has resisted the headlong jump into NFT-land, but that now looks all set to change. While we’re not likely to see an official EPL NFT shop any time soon, the organisation is understood to be in talks with a host of third party markets who are actively bidding for the rights to mint EPL NFTs. These platforms have emerged to capitalise on the craze started by NBA Top Shot and NFL All Day by effectively franchising the NFT rights for smaller sporting bodies. For example, the Singapore based EX Sports marketplace now holds the global rights for the International Federation of Muay Thai Associations, the Ju-Jitsu International Federation, and the International Powerlifting Federation.
The bid for the EPL rights is thought to be contested between ConsenSys, Dapper Labs, Sorare and Candy. Of those, the likeliest candidate is thought to be Sorare. The reason for this is that they have already achieved successful deals with both the Bundesliga and La Liga. As the major European leagues historically stick together on moves like this, this is tipped to be the likely choice. As for the price, it is thought that the value for a 4 year lease is currently sat around £434 million.