Another potential major player is entering the burgeoning sports NFT collectibles market. Today, Sports Illustrated, a 68-year-old magazine, announced a partnership with NFT startup OneOf to launch a sports NFT series on Polygon, featuring Muhammad Ali, Wayne Gretzky, and Mia Hamm among the first nine athletes.
The Sports Illustrated NFTs will provide recreated replicas of iconic magazine cover photographs for each of its first paired athletes, all designed by artist Jonathan Winbush.
Following Super Bowl LVI on February 13, OneOf aims to debut the platform later this month, with the first drop starring NFL legends Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, and Dick Butkus. Aside from individual NFTs for each, the marketplace will also include a limited-edition “Greatest Play That Never Was” fantasy NFT artwork piece featuring all three retired football greats.
In addition to those three sportsmen, OneOf will release NFTs from Muhammad Ali, Shaquille O’Neal, Wayne Gretzky, Mia Hamm, Billie Jean King, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., among others. Lin Dai, co-founder and CEO of OneOf said that the company is collaborating with Sports Illustrated, which worked with each athlete (or their estate) to conduct the inaugural NFTs.
A few major projects already dominate the sports NFT field. With its athlete-centric approach, Tom Brady’s Autograph platform is similar in scope, while Fanatics’ Candy Digital has the official MLB license and Dapper Labs helped bring NFTs popular with NBA Top Shot. Dapper’s UFC Strike is also new, and NFL All Day is coming shortly.
Gretzky and Earnhardt Jr. already have NFTs on Autograph, so they’ll be available on a variety of collectibles outlets. In addition, the late Muhammad Ali has already been featured in other NFT drops. The non-exclusive nature of most sports and athlete NFT partnerships, according to Dai, gives collectors more options.
“I think that actually allows different platforms a lot of freedom to establish their own specialty,” Dai said. “What we’re aiming to achieve is in line with our ideal of putting the artist or athlete first. We believe it is quite appropriate for us to conduct direct athlete partnerships in order to ensure that they are a part of this revolution—rather than relying solely on the leagues to capitalize on it.”
The Sports Illustrated relationship, according to OneOf, is the start of a larger sports and lifestyle vertical. Dai said they’re also working with collegiate sports teams, pro basketball franchises, racing organizations, and international soccer clubs in addition to this initial list of nine individuals.
The OneOf sports marketplace will also provide a minting pass, which allows buyers to get first dibs on all of the platform’s scheduled releases in 2022, including future team NFTs. Before the platform’s post-Super Bowl launch, more details on the pass will be unveiled.
Going multi-chain
For OneOf, mining NFTs on Polygon, an Ethereum sidechain scaling solution, is a first. Tezos powers OneOf’s music-centric marketplace, and the company has been a prominent player in the Tezos NFT ecosystem to date.
OneOf’s decision to embrace Polygon is a step toward a multi-chain future. As it aims to provide more options to partners, Dai added that additional energy-efficient blockchain systems could be used in the future.
Tezos was chosen by OneOf’s music marketplace, which started last summer after funding $63 million, because of its lower environmental impact, which is crucial to many musicians, according to Dai. It has collaborated with Warner Music Group and The Grammys on future NFT launches and has featured drops from the late Whitney Houston and other artists.
The Polygon chain, on the other hand, is the same one used by Autograph. Brady’s platform, according to Dai, not only “paved the road” for OneOf’s sports play, but the existing sports NFT collector base on that platform may have influenced Sports Illustrated’s choice.
“It’s already a terrific environment there,” he continued, “so it’s understandable that Sports Illustrated chose Polygon.”