The NFL and TikTok want a slice of NFT pie

The National Football League and TikTok are the latest big brands hopping on the non-fungible bandwagon in hopes of capitalizing on the surging asset class.

The organizations’ NFT projects have the potential to further accelerate the emerging market for creators and founders operating in the space.

NFT 101: An NFT is a unique, non-interchangeable unit of data — art, videos, GIFs, other collectibles — stored on a blockchain such as Etheruem, Flow, or Tezos. NFTs help create scarcity for creative works and are a means to prove ownership of assets without any intermediaries.

Non-fungible frenzy: Sales volumes of NFTs skyrocketed to $10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021 — up more than 8x from the previous quarter. Artist Beeple sold an NFT at Christie's for $69.3 million in March of 2021.

Crypto blitz: The NFL and NFL Players Association announced a partnership with Dapper Labs to create exclusive digital video highlight NFTs for fans. The yet-to-be-launched platform will allow NFL fans to collect iconic NFL moments that will likely trade for thousands if not millions of dollars. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes sold $3.4 million worth of NFTs in about 20 minutes, showing how thirsty fans are for NFTs of their favorite players.

Sportsball bling: Dapper Labs — valued at $7.6 billion after a $250 million funding round — helped launch NBA Topshot, which has generated sales of nearly $800 million this year. Dapper Labs launched a similar project with La Liga, Spain’s top soccer league.

Tokenizing TikTok: Now with 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok is releasing its first set of NFTs that capture culturally-significant moments on TikTok. TikTok Top Moments’ single-edition NFTs will be sold on the Ethereum blockchain at market price while its limited-edition NFTs will be powered by Immutable X and offered at “accessible price points.” TikTok said that most of the NFT sale proceeds will go toward creators.

Lil’ NFT: The company’s first digital collectibles will feature Lil Nas X in Rudy Willingham’s viral stop-motion video of the music artist.

Twitter eyes NFTs: Twitter recently announced it plans to incorporate NFT verification for users’ profile pictures. The move will help creators more easily display and sell NFTs. Twitter may also soon allow users to display their NFTs on a “Collectibles” tab on their profile.

Why it matters: The NFL and TikTok have massive and deeply loyal fanbases. These two brands — along with many others that are testing the NFT waters — have the potential of taking NFTs mainstream.

Creator potential: NFTs offer creators, artists, designers, and others more power to monetize their creative work. While there’s plenty of chatter around NFTs being a bubble ripe for popping, NFTs offer creators a means to make meaningful money without an intermediary that takes a cut.

NFT wrap up: Dru Riley (@dru_riley) put together a great write-up on NFTs, their marketplaces, and offered some predictions. My favorite of his prognostications: NFTs will unlock online and in-person experiences. Check it out here.