It doesn’t seem to matter if it makes any sense or not, the payoffs of getting in on the crypto hype is clearly too much to pass up.
Last month sportsbook giant, DraftKings, announced it will be entering the weird world of nonfungible token (NFTs) in league with the NFL player association (NFLPA).
Essentially, listed NFL players have handed over their name, image, and likeness rights to be embedded in a unique code and traded as assets on the blockchain through DraftKings Marketplace for the 2022/3 season.
“Imagine an arcade-style NFL game (i.e., NFL Blitz) where you own the playable version of Patrick Mahomes as an NFT. Now layer on an element of peer-to-peer wagering based on the outcome of a match against another team owner,” RoundHill Investments co-founder Will Hershey explained.
NFTs are essentially blocks of data that can be held and verified by other users on the blockchain, much like a cryptocurrency. Like crypto, NFTs have applications added to them, or smart, such as audio and video files, as well as pictures. They can be considered something like traditional sports trading cards, but online and with interactive features.
The move is just another way for DK to keep gamifying aspects of the sports betting and fantasy boom, using blockchain technology, and presents a potentially lucrative new area that might appeal to a young demographic, and potentially even avoid gambling las – depending how they operate it.
The concept also brings DK into the crypto sphere more directly, because players must first buy the company-affiliated coin, Polygon, to then purchase the NFT.
“If executed properly, the potential is certainly there, particularly with a captive DraftKings audience that is likely comfortable with the risk-taking associated with speculative assets like NFTs,” he adds. “From an investment perspective, the opportunity feels like a worthy call option for a company with a low cost of capital and cash on the balance sheet.”
