There’s been a lot of recent talk around digital non-fungible token (NFT) sports highlights and cards, especially with the growing popularity of the NBA Top Shot marketplace. Now, Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ tight end Rob Gronkowski is taking an interesting step into the NFT market himself, partnering with artist Black Madre and digital crypto collectible marketplace OpenSea for five NFT cards; one for each of his four Super Bowl wins (with those cards limited to 87 editions each, his number), and a single-edition one representing all four Super Bowl wins.
Each of these cards will be digitally signed by Gronkowski and individually numbered. They’ll be available through an OpenSea-powered auction on GronkNFT.com, beginning at 7 p.m. ET Thursday (March 11) and running through Saturday (March 13) at 7 p.m. ET. But only bids using cryptocurrency ethereum will be accepted. The single-edition career highlight card will come with some extra perks, with the winner also getting the chance to meet Gronkowski in person and attend a game as his guest. Here’s a video Gronkowski did on this with TMZ:
And here are some quotes on this from a release:
“With the rapid success of NFTs across platforms like NBA Top Shot and OpenSea, I wanted to take the business into my own hands and be the first professional athlete to launch my own NFT collection. Now fans will be able to get a piece of the action and share these iconic Super Bowl moments with me in this all new digital format with my Championship Series NFT.” –Rob Gronkowski
“We’re excited to welcome our first professional athlete to OpenSea Drops – Super Bowl Champion Rob Gronkowski. Gronk’s unique offering is the first of its kind on our platform, and his limited edition cards are both incredible works of art and meaningful memorabilia. The sale will be part of OpenSea Drops, a brand new initiative that highlights exceptional content in the growing NFT space.” -Alex Atallah, Co-Founder, CTO of OpenSea
This certainly adds to the level of discussion around sports NFTs, which is even seeing shows partly focused on them. And it’s interesting to see an athlete dive into this world on an individual basis rather than through a wider league deal like what the NBA has done with Top Shot. We’ll see how this partnership works out for Gronk and OpenSea.
