The 2021 Super Bowl MVP is getting into NFTs.
CNN reports that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is launching a new NFT platform this spring called Autograph. CBS Sports adds that the company will collaborate with designers to create digital collectibles that feature some of the biggest names in sports, pop culture, fashion and entertainment. Autograph will also design a few NFTs featuring the quarterback himself.
As previously reported by the Deseret News, NFTs (nonfungible tokens) are collectible digital objects (images, sound clips, videos and more) that are bought and sold on blockchains using cryptocurrencies. In a way, they’re sort of like trading cards or collectible art pieces that only exist in the digital world.
Dillon Rosenblatt, the co-founder and CEO of Autograph, recently said in a statement: “Autograph will bring together some of the world’s most iconic names and brands with best in class digital artists to ideate, create and launch NFTs and groundbreaking experiences to a community of fans and collectors,” CNN reported.
According to Inside Hook, Autograph will offer physical products and host live auctions in addition to selling NFTs.
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) April 6, 2021
Brady and Rosenblatt will serve as co-chairs for the new enterprise, ProFootballTalk.com reports, adding that the company’s advisory team includes notable figures like Apple senior VP Eddy Cue, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer and Los Angeles Dodgers/Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber, among others.
Brady will face some familiar competition as he enters the NFT business, Inside Hook reports. According to the site, Eli and Peyton Manning are teaming up to sell their own line of NFTs later this month on MakersPlace. The Manning brothers were the opposing quarterbacks in five of Brady’s 11 total playoff losses over his legendary career.
“I think it’s really about telling your story through art,” Eli Manning said regarding his new venture (via Inside Hook). “The fun part was actually creating the pieces, creating the art, and now hopefully other people get to enjoy it as well. It’s a way to collect things but a little easier to trade it, and to move it around or to sell it or to showcase it rather than your card sitting in front of you.”
After NFTs became enormously popular in NBA circles, Brady and the Manning brothers’ business moves may help bring NFTs into the NFL space. At the end of February, CNBC reported that NBA Top Shot, a platform that produces and sells NFTs of NBA players, had generated over $230 million in sales.