In brief
- The NFL has released Draft-themed NFT collectibles minted on Flow.
- Each of the league’s 32 teams is offering 52 NFTs that sell for $52 each.
The 2022 NFL Draft takes place later this week from April 28-30, and the league is marking the occasion with the launch of a new NFT collection, which offers collectibles inspired by each of the league’s 32 teams.
The NFL Draft NFTs launched today on the league’s own platform, with 52 NFT collectibles available for each team. Each NFT resembles a playing card and sells for $52. The NFTs are minted on the Flow blockchain rather than Polygon, the Ethereum sidechain scaling solution used for previous NFL NFT drops.
Each NFT is dubbed a “virtual commemorative ticket” for the NFL Draft, but it doesn’t serve as an actual access pass to the live event in Las Vegas. Instead, as the Ticketmaster-powered platform’s FAQ notes, the NFL makes some of its virtual ticket collectibles available for purchase by the wider public.
An NFL representative told Decrypt that all on-site “Inner Circle” guests for each team at the first two days of the Draft will also receive NFTs, which are tied to an onsite prize promotion.
The league had previously used its platform for virtual commemorative tickets based on Super Bowl LVI in February, as well as regular season and playoff games last season. The NFL has also recently released commemorative NFT tickets based on previous Super Bowl championship games.
An NFT works like a receipt that proves ownership for a digital item. Sports collectibles have been a significant part of the wider NFT market to date, which generated some $25 billion worth of trading volume in 2021.
Dapper Labs’ Flow is the same blockchain network used by NFL All Day, the NFT collectibles platform that is currently live as a closed beta. It’s also the same platform that Dapper’s NBA Top Shot and UFC Strike platforms run on.
Recently, the NFL changed its rules to allow teams to sign blockchain sponsors and partners, although they are still prohibited from promoting specific cryptocurrencies or having their own "fan tokens," which are tradable assets that provide their holders with certain team-oriented perks, such as voting on team decisions.
Earlier this month, the Dallas Cowboys announced Blockchain.com as a sponsor, while 13 other teams—including the Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants—signed marketing partnerships with fan token firm, Socios. Those latter deals do not currently include a fan token component.