Each “Flying Formation” NFT is paired with a special edition Nike Air Max 1, and 70% of revenue from initial sales will go directly to the participating Oregon athletes.
Oregon Ducks athletes can now add NFTs to their extensive name, image, and likeness repertoire.
The university and its NIL partner company Division Street have announced Ducks of a Feather — an NFT platform made specifically to benefit Oregon athletes and connect them to fans, boosters, and collectors.
Fittingly, the first collection on the platform, called “Flying Formations,” will consist of 120 designs from Nike’s Tinker Hatfield in collaboration with the Oregon football team.
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Each NFT will also be accompanied by a special-edition Nike Air Max 1 — also designed by Hatfield — featuring a representation of the NFT on the shoe’s tongue.
“As a former Oregon student-athlete, I remember clearly the sense of brotherhood that exists within our teams and it was an honor to create a depiction of that brotherhood through the design of Flying Formations,” Hatfield said in a release. “I have such a passion for the school and the athletes, and it’s a dream to work on something unique like this that directly supports them.”
Hatfield’s inspiration, according to the release, was the story of brotherhood within the football program and he designed the NFTs to represent the strength of the team.
“Knowing that our stories inspired the legend Tinker Hatfield and seeing that inspiration come to life in an NFT collection that supports our team is just incredible,” said Ducks sophomore safety and Flying Formations participant Jamal Hill.
Seven football players, including Hill, have agreed to provide content for the collection, and every player on the roster that promotes the online auction will benefit equally from the revenue it generates.
When department- or team-wide NIL deals are announced, we don’t often hear about exactly what the monetary breakdown ends up being; not so with Ducks of a Feather. For this first collection, 70% of proceeds will go to the participating players, with 10% headed to Division Street to distribute throughout the department.
Like most such launches, the initial auction, slated for Feb. 20, will happen on the platform — in this case, Division Street’s DucksOfAFeather.xyz. The NFTs can then make their way to secondary markets like OpenSea, where 10% of sales will continue to go toward a Division Street fund to support Oregon athletics.
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