Solana’s Non-Fungible Token Market, or NFT, Magic Eden has announced a collaboration with popular sports entertainment platform Overtime to launch an NFT collection that aims to enhance fan engagement and exclusive experiences.
The association is oriented around the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, a collegiate national championship conference often referred to as March Madness, and is considered one of the biggest sporting events in the United States.
The tournament will kick off on March 15 and conclude with a championship game at the nearly 75,000-seat Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on April 4.
Having amassed more than 1 million and 6.5 million followers on Twitter and Instagram, respectively, cross-media entertainment brand Overtime has raised ≈ $135 million from esteemed venture capitalists Spark Capital and Bezos Expeditions, as well as industry-leading contributions. Series A and Series B rounds. by Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z.
Similarly, Magic Eden has risen to prominence in recent years since its inception in September 2017, posting nearly $400 million in trading volume over the past 30 days as the leading Solana DApp and surpassing OpenSea’s daily transaction value. during December of last year. .
Recently, the platform also announced plans to establish a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, implementing a three-tier NFT airdrop to dedicated users to instigate the process.
Read about our #MagicTicket airdrop + @TheMagicDAO@TheMagicDAO‘s purpose is to work together w/ the community to create a stronger Solana NFT ecosystem
DAO will be funded with 1K SOL from ME + 2% of Magic Ticket tx fees + 5% of Magic Ticket royalties.https://t.co/RjajMLtg3M pic.twitter.com/1uX6YsbrtV
— Magic Eden Solana’s Leading NFT Marketplace (@MagicEden) February 22, 2022
Read about our #MagicTicket airdrop + The purpose of @TheMagicDAO@TheMagicDAO is to work together with the community to create a stronger Solana NFT ecosystem
DAO will be funded by 1K SOL from ME + 2% Magic Ticket transaction fees + 5% Magic Ticket royalties.
Cointelegraph spoke with Overtime co-founder and CEO Dan Porter and Magic Eden co-founder Jack Lu to get the specific rationale for the joint effort, expert judgments on the future of fan engagement in the esports industry. as well as the numerical details surrounding the launch of the assets.
CT: What was the attraction of working with Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden, as opposed to arguably more established and consumer-recognized OpenSea?
Porter stated that Magic Eden “brought energy, ideas and resources to help make this vision a reality”, before noting that “we felt Solana would be a perfect experience for those who have purchased NFTs in the past, but also for early-timers who they don’t have to deal with gas fees.”
CT: What is your five-year vision for the convergence of NFT and the esports industry? And do you think that these emerging opportunities are usually created and tailored to the dedicated supporter or just native speculators of cryptocurrencies?
Porter spoke of the nascent of the NFT space and, in turn, the difficulty of accurately predicting potential events and trends over a multi-year timeline. However, he did reveal Overtime’s intentions to transition to a Web3 community spirit after the great successes of the social media era, as well as explaining that:
“Usually a fan sits down and watches a game, follows it on social media and maybe buys a jersey. NFTs provide the opportunity for true participation, ownership and, in some cases, decision-making power […] As we have seen with sports betting, NFTs are another lever for leagues to create additional engagement with fans and thus another way to monetize intellectual property.”
Popular NBA Top Shot basketball NFT collection, built on Dapper Lab’s Flow blockchain, capitalized on the growing demand for historic sports collectibles with the launch of its of the moment campaign last year. Since then, the project has facilitated a volume of USD 881 million, with the most expensive sale being Lebron James’ legendary dunk in the 2020 NBA Finals in mid-August last year for USD 230,023.
CHATTANOOGA BUZZER BEATER TO GET A TICKET TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT (via @CBBonFOX)pic.twitter.com/UymwBWYWMw
— Overtime (@overtime) March 8, 2022
Currently, Magic Eden’s top-rated collections consist of Profile Picture Projects, or PFPs, and Access Passes. Projects like Solana Monkey Business, Degenerate Ape Academy, Shadowy Super Coder DAO, and Boryoku Dragonz paved the way for market growth throughout 2021, while newer projects like Portal and Lux Real Estate look to provide a variety of utility offerings. from metaverse to their holders.
Speaking about his expectations for how sports NFTs could impact the cultural landscape both in Magic Eden and in the market in general, Lu noted that:
“We believe the next generation of sports fans will be able to experience sports in a totally different way than the previous generation of millennials, who grew up passively watching sports on TV or in real life.”
When asked about the method by which these NFTs will be redeemed or minted, the approximate launch date, as well as the estimated dollar value of each asset, Porter drew a comparison to the typical pricing structure of the pinnacle basketball game, stating that “the value of getting into an NBA Finals, for example, can be around $1,000,” noting that “these NFTs become assets valuable places in the hands of sports fans, changing the way they interact with games.”
Lu revealed that the assets will be minted on March 11 and that “extended support utility (be it access to games, meet and greets, special events and competitions, exclusive content, Ask Me Anything [AMA] and special releases) will be available after the tournament is over.” Magic Eden was unable to confirm the value of the assets at this time.
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