The company behind NBA Top Shot will bring officially licensed NFL highlight moments to the Flow blockchain.
The NFL, the NFL Players Association, and blockchain technology leader Dapper Labs have announced a partnership to create exclusive non-fungible token highlight moments for NFL fans, the organizations announced Wednesday. The deal will aim to drive fan engagement by allowing fans to collect these digital video moments of the best plays of the season on Dapper Labs’ Flow blockchain, which also powers NBA Top Shot.
OneTeam Partners, the group licensing entity of the NFLPA leading their digital media business, facilitated this all-new deal.
The news comes one week after Dapper Labs announced new fundraising, a $7.6 billion valuation, and an exclusive pact with LaLiga, the top flight of Spanish soccer.
“The irreplaceable nature of the NFT captures what is special about sports fandom,” said Steve Scebelo, President, NFL Players Inc. the marketing and licensing arm of the NFLPA in a statement. “Our players are immensely excited for the NFLPA — in working with our enterprising partners at Dapper Labs and OneTeam — to make this significant push into the digital collectibles market.”
Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou agrees with Scebelo.
“From the Hail Murray to the Minneapolis Miracle, magic happens in NFL stadiums,” he said in an official release. “As a league that continually raises the bar, we are proud that the NFL and NFLPA have chosen Dapper Labs to deliver for NFL fans worldwide the Moments they’ve been waiting for. We can’t wait to give the more than 300 million NFL fans the opportunity to own the game that matters to them and engage with the sport in a whole new way.”
As Gharegozlou said, the digital collection of NFTs will give fans an opportunity to feature some of the league’s greatest and most talked about in-game moments. The experience will launch later this season, giving fans the opportunity to purchase and open NFT packs from their favorite NFL heroes, show off their collections, and trade moments with other fans.
Similar to NBA Top Shot, fans will buy, showcase, sell and trade their moment in a dedicated marketplace on Flow.
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“We are thrilled to partner with Dapper Labs in its launch of NFL digital video collectibles,” said Joe Ruggiero, Senior Vice President of Consumer Products at the NFL in a release. “We believe blockchain technology has great potential to enhance the NFL fan experience in the future and we are excited to have Dapper Labs as one of our first collaborators in exploring this emerging space.”
For months, we wondered when the NFL would have its own answer to NBA Top Shot. Now, we have our grand confirmation. The exclusive NFT experience launches later this season, and fans can join the NFL x Dapper waitlist now at nfl.dapperlabs.com.
