The Sports Business Journal reports that the UFC and Dapper Labs are rolling out UFC NFTs. The packs will cost $50 each with athletes receiving 50% of the revenue. The product is called UFC Strike and will be similar to the NBA’s Top Shot NFTs.
Per the report Endeavor is an investor in Dapper Labs and signed an agreement to produce the NFTs in February 2020. Notably, Ari Emmanuel stated that NFTs were coming last year when Endeavor became publicly traded.
NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, will be highlights of UFC athletes and/or historic moments from the promotion. Strike will release 200,000 packs.
The UFC has NFT deals with Crypto.com which will focus more on specific events, and Panini, whose NFTs are replicas of physical trading cards.
Similar to NBA Top Shot, the UFC NFTs will grant users the opportunity to not only purchase, but buy and trade NFTs with others. According to the report, UFC COO Lawrence Epstein stated that “the goal is to attract not just UFC fans to the Strike platform but also broader crypto fans who may not be fans of the fighting series yet.”
Payout Perspective:
The NFT push is just a part of the strategy for the company to become more involved in the metaverse. As the company’s demo skews younger and early-adopters, the NFTs should be popular. Many will also jump on any plans to create its own metaverse like so many other companies. However, as those know who have followed NBA Top Shot, that experience has somewhat soured after a huge initial push due to issues with beta and the length of time it takes to cash out. Expect many fans and collectors seeking these NFTs and looking to capitalize on the popularity.
.@ufc and @dapperlabs have unveiled their new NFT collectible product called UFC Strike 👊
— Sports Business Journal (@sbjsbd) January 20, 2022
Fans and collectors will start being able to purchase the highlight reel NFTs this Sunday at 2 PM ET.
🔺 @A_S12 https://t.co/PoiR1syqxh pic.twitter.com/7nZuhZu0e5
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