Crypto Corner: The Sports Slice

We are back with The sports disc to take a bite into all sports and crypto. Some of the latest headlines this past week include the upcoming launch of LaLiga’s new NFT platform, a college quarterback’s new NFT NIL deal, and a crypto jersey patch deal cut short unexpectedly.

Let’s dive into all of the past week’s crypto and sports activity.

The sports disc

New Zealand Rugby acquires World Of Women Galaxy NFT

New Zealand’s commercial arm of rugby and national team representative New Zealand Rugby made a hefty purchase of 33 World Of Women Galaxy NFTs this past week; the move is the team’s first NFT purchase, thanks to some help with MoonPay – which is not an official declared partner of the team.

Fans on the team’s official Reddit outlet were not thrilled.

LaLiga’s digital collectibles’ first platform release is scheduled for later this month

‘LaLiga Golazos’, the highly anticipated NFT product from Dapper Labs and the powerhouse soccer league, is set to debut in the coming weeks. October 27th is scheduled as the release date (along with the first initial drop), and will feature some of the league’s biggest moments since 2005. The platform is expected to mirror the experience seen in Dapper’s other products, Top Shot and NFL All Day.

A College Quarterbacks $1M NFT NIL Deal

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers is approaching $4M in NIL deals, thanks to a new $1M NFT NIL deal established this past week with Metabilia. Over half of US states have now established some form of formalized NIL policy as universities look for new avenues to recruit athletes, and athletes look to new avenues for compensation.

Ewers and Metabilia will launch an NFT collaboration project that will require a subscription fee to access drops and signed memorabilia. The NIL territory is still very young for new platforms and projects to explore, and crypto and web3 firms have not shied away from doing so so far.

Dapper Labs (FLOW) is set to release it's latest product courtesy of a league-wide deal with European soccer monster, LaLiga. | Source: FLOW-USD on TradingView.com

Athlete-backed and avalanche-driven ‘MynaSwap’ raises $6 million

NFL stars including Kyler Murray and Odell Beckham Jr. was part of a recent fundraiser for Avalanche blockchain-based sneaker trading platform, MynaSwap. The increase, totaling $6 million, will go toward building out the digital collectibles platform that provides digital authentication for physical goods. The platform was founded by Adeel Shams, co-founder of sneaker store Coolkicks (which has become an LA staple in the sneakerhead community).

Crypto.com is reportedly turning down the dial on sports partnerships

Crypto.com is reportedly cutting back on sports sponsorship engagements as the exchange is likely to face increased budgetary constraints in the bear market. While the exact scope is unknown, reports have surfaced in recent days that Crypto.com was looking to cut scope with sports partners such as the World Cup and Twitch Rivals. Once a leading force in sports sponsorship, the stock market is now likely to see a major shift in spending as the bear market has persisted through this year.

MoonPay’s first attempt at sports

A name we have not mentioned in Sliceits story is MoonPay. Tick ​​that box this week as the crypto exchange secured its first sports deal with Brazilian soccer club Flamengo. The two will look to have MoonPay lead the charge on a range of NFT engagements, including ticketing, loyalty programs and more.

Trail Blazers Cut StormX Jersey Patch Deal

The NBA’s first crypto jersey update deal was established in the middle of last year, and despite being a multi-year deal that was established between the Portland Trail Blazers and the young platform StormX, it is coming to a quiet and unexpected end. StormX has largely underperformed the broader crypto market, and despite signing an athlete endorsement deal with former Blazer CJ McCollum back in November, the exchange is rarely mentioned when discussing the best crypto exchanges. The club’s reasoning for cutting the partner, whose shirt patch featured in media day content in recent weeks, was not revealed.

We’ll see where Portland goes for a patch deal, after taking on a BioFreeze patch before the StormX deal. The Blazers join the Grizzlies and Wizards among clubs currently searching for a jersey patch partner.

Featured image from Pexels, Charts from TradingView.com

The writer of this content is not associated or affiliated with any of the parties mentioned in this article. This is not financial advice.

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