USFL announces official NFT marketplace that will pay players, coaches
We know you're already excited for the inaugural 2022 United States Football League season, kicking off April 16 in Birmingham, Alabama. Now, how about a chance to own a piece of history yourself?
To create a world-class experience for fans, players, and coaches, the new USFL is partnering with FOX Entertainment’s Blockchain Creative Labs (BCL) to launch an innovative NFT marketplace for digital collectibles, including minting and selling official digital tokens for the league, its teams, players, and coaches.
Players and coaches will have the opportunity to work directly with BCL to create special tokens — and that's not all. While specific details won’t be finalized until players and coaches report to training camp later this month, a majority of sales revenue of these special NFTs will go directly to the players and coaches via digital wallets. Using smart contracts on the blockchain, USFL coaches and players will be the first from any professional sports league to receive revenue at exact time of sale.
"Our partners at Blockchain Creative Labs are building a cutting-edge marketplace for digital collectibles that will create a unique experience for USFL fans, players, and coaches," said Edward Hartman, USFL Executive Vice President of Business Operations. "At no cost to them, we are proud to empower our players and coaches by offering them sales revenues from NFTs they have a role in designing. Beyond the obvious financial benefit, USFL on-field talent will also be able to directly connect with fans like never before, allowing them to build and nurture long-term value for themselves that extends beyond the football field."
NFTs are digital collectibles that are generally one-of-a-kind or one of limited quantity. While most digitally created content is infinite in supply (because anyone can access it at any time), NFTs have unique identifying codes giving collectors exclusive ownership rights, almost like a certificate of authenticity.
BCL will operate the USFL’s NFT digital platform and storefront.
"By partnering with BCL to give USFL players and coaches the technical infrastructure and creative resources to build and own their digital brand in an authentic way, the USFL is recognizing the power that blockchain provides to connect with fans in an innovative way," said Melody Hildebrandt, BCL President and FOX Corporation Chief Information Security Officer. "BCL will provide concierge services that will assist USFL players and coaches to create special NFTs, build a token economy around their professional brand, and manage their community on the instant messaging platform Discord."
Hungry for even more USFL content? Head over to the USFL section on the FOX Sports app and website for all the latest news, and make sure to favorite the USFL and your favorite team — or teams! — while you're there.
