Zappo’s founder launches NFT-based sports prediction game
Zappos founder and Golden State Warriors co-owner Nick Swinmurn is trying to redefine the integration of NFTs and sports with a new NFT-based prediction game called Play Hellebore.
The game, which will initially center on predictions for games in the NFL, NCAA, MLB and international soccer leagues, launched on Tuesday with the starting cost to play at 0.03 Ether (about $50). With it, players can use a crypto wallet to purchase a Siber, a furry creature with a smug look on its face, which players can use to make game predictions and earn more NFTs or possibly prize money that players agree to compete for in closed leagues.
Although Swinmurn has started several companies since leaving Zappos in 2006, this is his first Web3 venture. He said he became more interested in the space during the pandemic because of NBA TopShot and other NFT collections.
“When I saw it, I couldn’t see it,” he recounted Fortune.
But a lack of Web3 experience didn’t deter Swinmurn. The serial entrepreneur said founding a Web3 company proved similar to convincing shoe manufacturers to sell products online with Zappos in 1999.
“I had that experience of seeing something that is now so obvious, but that at the time there was a lot of resistance, and then when you saw some resistance in Web3, it wasn’t as scary,” he said.
With Play Hellebore, Swinmurn hopes to capitalize on the market for fantasy sports leagues. Using a Siber, which is themed for each sport, players can participate in the “daily pick” where they choose “yes” or “no” for predictions such as “Will the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox?” Correct predictions give points for a Siber, while incorrect predictions deduct points.
Players with three Sibers can participate in the two more advanced levels of play – the academy level and the team level. Similar to “daily choice”, the outcome of academy level decisions will add or subtract points from a Siber, but with three choices instead of one, and the questions will be more nuanced.
Both the daily pick and academy levels are meant to increase a player’s Sibers, but at the team level, players can use them in leagues with friends or strangers. The head-to-head competitions will be centered on a 28-day schedule with 15 “games”. As in football, players will receive three points in a league’s standings for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The winners will be rewarded with prizes including more NFTs.
Swinmurn said there are plans to expand the game to hockey and basketball by the end of the year, and by next year to add individual sports such as golf, tennis and racing.
Despite the recent drop in crypto and NFT prices, Swinmurn said he believes the utility behind the NFTs in his game can prove successful even in a bear market.
“I wish it was a bull market … but I think it’s also a great opportunity because fewer people want to build, but we’re fully committed to it,” he said.
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