Leading Sports NFT Web Stores

NFTs are some of the most genuinely disruptive tech innovations to come along for some time. By offering a means by which digital products can be ascribed unique ownership and scarcity in-line with physical items, they are opening up vast new markets and areas of speculation for digital investors. From digital art sales, to music records, at present there is a great deal of experimentation with NFTs across many sectors. 

One area that has progressed further down this path than most is the world of organized major league sports. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that the sports memorabilia market is among the largest subsidiary sources of revenue in the sporting world today. In a context defined by classic baseball cards selling at auction for over $1 million, the prospect held out of owning the footage to one of Michael Jordan’s winning slam-dunks poses a unique and compelling opportunity for memorabilia collectors.

A Forward Thinking Industry

While NFTs may seem at first glance a novel prospect and poor natural fit for the sports industry, this is only the case when one fails to consider the dynamic steps being taken by this sector in order to modernize, explore new modalities and keep pace with a fast changing media landscape. In addition to NFTs, the sports industry has embraced a slew of fresh formats and disruptive tech innovations. Take, for example, the development of online sportsbooks and bookmaker comparison platforms. These services, such as SBO, connect internet-savvy sports fans with the best odds and competitive offers on betting platforms in markets such as the UK in an on-demand fashion that would not have been possible to achieve before the rise of smartphones and the establishment of reliable mobile internet connections. In highlighting the numerous advantages this type of technologically forward thinking method has on traditional bookies, the aforementioned platform highlights that its service, and others like it, offer great convenience, more competitive odds, a range of promotions and the prospect of instant pay-outs. 

Another tech modality that has been gaining ground fast in the sports industry is the much lauded yet little understood concept of the metaverse. Simply put, a metaverse is a VR collaborative space in which users can create, spectate, interact and shop. Back in May, San Siro stadium, home to AC Milan, became the first football stadium in the world to broadcast a game in the metaverse to fans tuning in from Africa and the Middle East. The ability to spectate a game with a virtual crowd in a digital space is something decidedly novel at present, but you can expect to see far more of this type of event in the coming years.

Leading NFT Stores

Below we will take a look at three of the most compelling NFT sports storefronts currently in the works. In addition to these major projects, many minor sporting bodies have been actively seeking to hand out licensing rights to their sport’s intellectual properties – and as such these three marketplaces below are merely the largest such examples of sports NFT stores in various stages of development as of 2022.

NBA Top Shot 

The first major sports NFT store to gain ground in the mainstream is NBA Top Shot. The success of this store served as a proof of concept for NFT sports stores and has led the way in driving their wider uptake. Top Shot sells minted NFTs, which it refers to as “moments”, in randomized packs priced at different tiers in much the same way that trading card packs work. The two price tiers at present are the base set, which sells for $9 each, and the Rising Stars pack, a premium option with the chance to get rare NFTs for $199.

NFL All Day

Built by the same developer as Top Shot, Dapper Labs, this store seeks to emulate much of the format of its basketball equivalent. It features 3 tiers of packs, with rarities valued at Common, with NFTs comprising a rarity of 1 in 9999, Rare (1 in 499-2000), and Legendary, which potentially features wholly unique NFTs.

EPL Webstore (TBC)

Outside of the USA, the biggest single sports NFT project underway at present is the upcoming English Premier League webstore. The biggest and most lucrative football league on earth, the EPL finalized its agreement with developer ConsenSys for the latter to mint EPL NFTs under a license granted for the next 4 years, at a valuation of over $500 million. While it’s still early days for this project, this store may end up having the biggest impact globally of any of the three listed here when it’s unveiled, presumably in 2023.