Autograph has been taking sports NFTs by storm. Co-founded by future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, Autograph has landed deals with legendary athletes across a variety of sports. This week, the platform is hitting the hardwood to team up with SLAM.
Known for it’s classic vintage magazine covers dating back to 1994, SLAM has streamlined it’s business into a new digital era. The platform provides news, special features, digital content, and apparel for basketball fans. It wouldn’t be complete without dipping into NFTs.
Autograph & It’s Premium Partners
In short time, Autograph has sealed in deals with the likes of Naomi Osaka, Derek Jeter, Simone Biles, and Tony Hawk. The growing advisory board includes top-tier athletes across different sports verticals. In recent months, Autograph signed on with DraftKings to give the sports betting platform it’s entry into NFTs.
According to this week’s press release, Autograph will serve as a launch partner for SLAM’s NFT series of historic magazine covers. The move will be Autograph’s first into basketball, and establish SLAM as a pillar for the platform’s entry into the sport.
NFTs will feature SLAM archives of the 300-plus covers that graced the front of SLAM for decades. The NFTs will be sold on DraftKings Marketplace, powered by Autograph.
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Sports Media Meets Blockchain Technology
The lines between sports and technology continue to blur.
“We’ve been constructing a portfolio of companies with a specific focus on the intersection of sports media and blockchain technology, and this deal sits squarely at that crossover,” said President of SLAM parent company JDS Sports Matt Aronson. SLAM has continued to build it’s digital presence, led by over twenty social channels serving over 16MM followers. JDS Sports was also an early Autograph backer.
Autograph continues to push the fold on sports NFTs through established partners. With DraftKings Marketplace, the pair have already released NFTs for Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Simone Biles, and more. However, Autograph doesn’t want to just draw the line at just sports. In July, the platform also established a partnership deal with Lionsgate. That deal will enable Autograph to create digital collectibles for upcoming flagship movie franchises later this year.
SLAM isn’t starting or stopping here either, it seems. SLAM partnered with rising basketball star Zion Williamson back in April. That partnership included four limited-edition NFTs that were variations of two of Zion’s SLAM cover appearances.
The intersection of sports and crypto continues to grow as brands, properties, teams, leagues and athletes across nearly every sport imaginable continue to get involved. We cover it all each week with The Sports Slice.
Autograph's platform is reportedly running on the Polygon blockchain, which has been a growing blockchain of use for NFT platforms. | Source: MATIC-USD on TradingView.com
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Featured image from Autograph.io, Charts from TradingView.com