The breakthrough multi-year deal built around the ESPN+ Brady docuseries Man in the Arena debuts on Autograph April 6.
ESPN and Tom Brady leveled up their partnership Wednesday in announcing the Worldwide Leader’s first-ever NFT deal with Autograph, the Web3 company co-founded by the legendary NFL quarterback.
The first NFT collection as part of a multi-year deal will be based on Man In The Arena, the 10-part ESPN+ documentary series detailing Brady’s record 10 Super Bowl appearances. “Man in the Arena: Tom Brady Collection,” designed in collaboration with Autograph and Religion of Sports, drops Wednesday, April 6 on the DraftKings marketplace and is viewable at Autograph.io. It coincides with the show’s limited-time availability across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.
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The NFT collection includes three ESPN magazine covers highlighting Brady’s biggest wins, moments, and achievements. The GOAT will digitally sign 50 NFTs from the collection, making those particular offerings even more valuable.
“ESPN is excited to offer our first NFTs to meet our fans at the intersection of sports, technology and content,” said Kevin Lopes, ESPN’s vice president of sports business development and innovation. “Our work with ESPN Edge has led us to where we are today, exploring new, innovative ways of engaging fans, and we are thrilled to partner with Autograph for this collection and others in the future.”
A second collection entitled “Back in the Arena” will drop in conjunction with the series’ 10th and final episode launching on ESPN+.
“As the first NFT partner for ESPN, the possibilities across sports and technology are endless, and we couldn’t be more excited to get this content out to the world in a massive way,” said Dillon Rosenblatt, Autograph’s co-founder and CEO.
In addition to Autograph, which boasts NFT collections from Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Naomi Osaka, Derek Jeter, Usain Bolt, Tony Hawk, and others, Brady is building quite the business empire. The 44-year-old now un-retired Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback recently filed for 26 trademarks ranging from beverages and meal kits to sunglasses and physical therapy equipment, and an additional set of trademark filings focused on Web3, NFTs and the metaverse.
While signing ESPN up for its first-ever NFT collection may not rival the on-field accomplishments of Tom Brady the QB, it’s an absolute coup for Tom Brady the businessman — and quite possibly a sign of much more to come from TB12 and the Worldwide Leader.
