American football’s NFL has entered into an agreement with Dapper Labs, the consumer blockchain company, to set up a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), it has been reported.
Sports Business Journal reports that the new marketplace will launch before the end of this current NFL season (which started earlier this month and lasts until 9 January), although no details of the venture have yet been officially released.
Both the NFL and the NFLPA will take an equity stake in Dapper Labs, and the partnership will involve Dapper Labs producing blockchain-based moments and digital cards, featuring NFL highlights and legendary players.
Dapper Labs will, it has been reported, become the second-largest licensing partner to the NFL’s Players Association, behind the EA Sports video game developer.
The blockchain firm, which earlier this month completed a funding round worth $250 million (giving it an overall valuation of $7.6 billion), has a similar deal in place with basketball’s NBA, under which 'NBA Top Shot' has been created, a marketplace where fans can buy digital cards of licensed highlights, and fan tokens.
As of August, NBA Top Shot had reportedly seen nearly $700 million in transactions.
Late last month, Dapper Labs partnered with Spanish soccer’s top-tier LaLiga, to create a similar series of NFT digital collectibles.
The collectibles will take the form of video moments from current and past LaLiga seasons that are sold using a packs model.
The company also has a partnership with the UFC mixed martial arts promotion, via which it issues and sells verified limited-edition UFC-inspired digital collectibles, including representations of UFC stars Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
