Basketball’s greatest of all time (GOAT), Michael Jordan, is getting into NFTs…
The NBA legend recently raised $10 million for a new project… setting his sights and skills on the digital asset space.
MJ isn’t the first athlete to jump into crypto. I’ve written about NBA star Spencer Dinwiddie and his attempts to tokenize his multimillion-dollar contract. Since that plan fell through, he’s focused on creating his own platform for athletes to build and monetize their own brands through NFTs.
I’ve also commented on the craziness in the non-fungible token (NFT) space earlier this year. There’s a ton of volatility in NFT values… and plenty of folks are skeptical about these digital assets.
But having Michael Jordan enter the sector is a big deal… It shows that NFTs are attracting the biggest and most successful brands.
It’s important to note that Michael Jordan isn’t launching his own NFT (which most folks would view as a short-term cash grab)…
Instead, he’s thinking big… and looking at the longer-term picture in digital assets.
Jordan and his son, Jeffery, plan to launch a platform called HEIR. It’s described as, “designed for athletes and other culture creators to expand, enhance, and deepen their relationships with their supporters around the world through membership-based access to digital assets and intimate first-person drops.”
In other words, Michael Jordan and his investors want to be key players in connecting stars with their fans. And digital assets like NFTs will play a critical role in monetizing these relationships. The platform will help athletes, entertainers, and content creators manage the ownership of their digital assets.
HEIR is expected to launch sometime in 2022. Fans will be able to connect with athletes through “huddles”—exclusive and limited experiences where fans get access to content from their favorite stars.
While the plan for HEIR is still a bit light on details, it’s easy to see how this could become a huge business. Plenty of folks will be willing to pay big money for exclusive access to athletes and entertainers. These “huddles” could be worth a lot to fans… and the same is true for any NFTs that eventually launch. Put simply, scarcity is valuable. And the limited access will create demand for the memberships.
No doubt, the access and content—as well as the star power behind the creators—will add to the value of memberships. Established stars will likely be able to generate a lot of money from their biggest fans. But the NFT aspect of the community will also draw massive attention, as investors will be looking to buy the digital assets of athletes BEFORE they become superstars.
In short, it will be a fascinating market to watch as it develops.
The HEIR platform will be built on the Solana blockchain. Solana is similar to Ethereum… It’s a crypto platform for creating digital assets with rules-based features like smart contracts. It’s also a competitor to Ethereum, since it has its own network that boasts faster transaction speeds and lower costs.
Again, we won’t know the full story for HEIR until it launches next year. But the project has already raised $10 million in a funding round led by Thrive Capital, whose previous investments include Instagram, Stripe, Slack, and Robinhood. Other notable investors include Alexis Ohanian (whose background includes Reddit and Seven Seven Six), Lonzo Ball (current Bulls player), and William Wesley (an executive with the New York Knicks).
NFTs are a potential multibillion-dollar market… and everyone from entertainers, artists, musicians, athletes, and movie stars are getting into the space.
The NFT sector is getting built out quickly. In fact, MJ and other NBA superstars like Kevin Durnant and Klay Thompson are investors in NBA Top Shot, an NFT trading-card startup. This new industry will create great experiences for fans… and big opportunities for stars, content creators, and investors.
I’ll update you next year after HEIR launches… and review the progress of the entire NFT industry as it develops. In the meantime, be on the lookout for more announcements from entertainers and athletes looking to build their brands through NFTs.
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