NBA Top Shot to Auction NFTs That Grant Five Years of VIP All-Star Game Access

By Andrew Hayward

Dapper Labs’ NBA Top Shot platform will launch its first auctions this month—and the 30 NFT collectibles will come with real-world perks for holders over the next five NBA All-Star Games and related events.

Each single-edition NFT—one per NBA team—will grant the top bidder access to the next five annual NBA All-Star events, beginning with the 2023 event in Salt Lake City, including other benefits.

For the 2023 event, the VIP package includes two lower-bowl tickets to the actual All-Star Game, the State Farm All-Star Saturday Night Events, and the Clorox Rising Stars Game. It also includes perks such as an exclusive tour of the arena, a shootaround with an unnamed "NBA legend" on the All-Star court, a merchandise bag including an All-Star jersey, and access to other physical and virtual events tied into the experience.

NBA Top Shot will begin rolling out the auctions on February 23 at a rate of one new NFT per day, with each auction accepting bids for seven days. A Dapper Labs representative confirmed to Decrypt that owners will be able to resell these All-Star NFTs via the marketplace later this spring, as well as gift them to others if the recipient’s identity has been confirmed on the platform.

Dapper and the NBA will also host a giveaway for an additional single-edition NFT that represents the league (rather than any particular team) and comes with the same package of All-Star Game perks over the next five years of events.

The NBA will display a QR code during tonight’s broadcast of the Philadelphia 76ers vs. Milwaukee Bucks game on TNT that will grant an entry into the giveaway when scanned. Another QR code will be displayed during the 2022 All-Star Game on February 20 that grants scanners five entries into the contest.

Additionally, anyone who buys NFTs from NBA Top Shot between today and 12pm ET on February 21 will gain five additional entries into the giveaway. An NBA Top Shot account is required to enter the contest through any avenue, and the winner will be picked on March 8.

NBA Top Shot surged in popularity in early 2021 and is cited as a key driver for early adoption during last year’s initial NFT boom. An NFT acts like a deed of ownership to a unique digital item—in this case, video-based collectibles that work like digital trading cards, which can be resold via the NBA Top Shot marketplace on Dapper’s own Flow blockchain.

While trading volume on the platform fell precipitously following last spring’s initial frenzy, January 2022 marked Top Shot’s best month since April 2021—perhaps due in part to the launch of a marketing campaign starring Kevin Durant. All told, NBA Top Shot has generated more than $900 million in secondary market trading volume to date, per data from CryptoSlam.

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