Some candy talking: DraftKings’ move into the NFT space via the launch of Marketplace confirmed fan tokens as another area where the convergence between sports and sports betting will potentially be played out. DraftKings is following a path already trod by others including sports merchandise market leader Fanatics (which will soon have ex-FanDuel CEO Matt King on the payroll). Fanatics is the majority shareholder in NFT joint venture called Candy Digital alongside cryptocurrency investor Michael Novogratz and digital media entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. As with DraftKings’ plans, Candy Digital features an in-house marketplace which utilizes Ethereum-based blockchain technology. Novogratz went on record as saying that NFTs are “fundamentally changing how we think about owning cultural artifacts.”
Slam dunk: Both marketplaces are following in the wake of NBATopShot from Dapper Labs which hit the headlines earlier this year when a 12-second highlight of a LeBron James dunk sold for more than $200,000. According to NFT tracker cryptoslam.io, NBA Top Shot’s marketplace has recorded $660m of sales to date. Among the other all-time sales named in the cryptoslam list is blockchain-based horseracing and betting simulator Zed Run, which has racked up $43.7m in all-time trading to date.
They fly so high: Then there is Topps, chaired by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, which was the subject of a SPAC deal earlier this year via a merger with Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corp II valuing the digital tokens and traditional card trading to Bazooka bubblegum vendor at $1.3bn. The deal will be finalised by the end of this year. In its Q121 results, Topps said the digital sports and entertainment unit saw sales rise 111% to around 25% of total revenues. Net sales across the business rose 55% to $166.6m.
Tire replacement: Taking a leaf from the old bwin playbook of how to make a big publicity splash, fan token outfit Socios, headed by ex-Chili Poker founder Alexandre Dreyfus, grabbed the headlines after becoming the new shirt sponsor for Serie A champions Inter Milan, taking over from long-term partner Pirelli. It is a big step for Socios, which already has fan token partnerships with a range of leading European soccer clubs and national squads, including Barcelona, Manchester City, Portugal and most recently Arsenal. Dreyfus founded Chili Gaming in 2006, launching a sports-betting site in France to coincide with the regulation of the French market in 2010. He sold Chili Gaming to the then-Bally’s in 2012 for an undisclosed sum, then ran the Global Poker League and Global Poker Index before hitting on fan tokens.
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