Sports broadcaster ESPN has partnered web3 brand Autograph, co-founded by Tom Brady, in a multi-year deal to launch ESPN’s first Non-Fungible Token (NFT). The first NFT named “Man in the Arena: Tom Brady Collection” was dropped on Wednesday, and is exclusively available to view on Autograph.io and for sale on DraftKings Marketplace.
The first of the NFT collections is based on Man in the Arena: Tom Brady, the 10-part ESPN+ documentary series produced by Religion of Sports, a media company in which Brady is also a co-founder.
The first NFT release coincides with the documentary becoming more widely available for fans to watch across the entire Disney Bundle – ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ – for a limited time.
Autograph expects the partnership for the first NFT to pave the way for more to come across sports, technology and content. ESPN is exploring new and innovative ways of engaging fans, and is partnering with Autograph for this collection and others in the future.
The current collection consists of three ESPN zine covers illustrating Brady’s career, wins and achievements. Brady will also be signing fifty NFTs from the collection.
A second collection themed as “Back in the Arena” will drop in conjunction with the debut of the series’ tenth episode on ESPN+.
The Man in the Arena series, directed by Gotham Chopra, features Brady and other notable figures deconstructing the milestones of his legendary NFL career by foraying into the psychological and emotional terrain of each victory and defeat.
NFTs are pieces of tokenized content that are verifiably unique, with the authenticity, rarity, and scarcity, and are secured on blockchain. They are typically built on Ethereum, though other blockchains like TRON and NEO can be used. The NFT transaction is executed on blockchain using smart contracts to store and record their unique information.
When a person buys an NFT of a collectibles and rare items of art and music, he receives a token containing the same only and does not get ownership rights. NFTs are currently the hottest product in the digital asset space, with celebrities launching NFTs for their art and music collections as another revenue stream for their work.
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