- Sports have become a major driver of blockchain adoption, and digital collectibles are an important part of the process, DraftKings executives say.
- As the Play-to-Earn model gains momentum, the company is paying close attention to the blockchain game space.
DraftKings presents the first in-house developed NFT collection. Blockworks learned this because the company expects sports to be the mainstream driver of blockchain adoption.
A Boston-based sports betting company has launched the NFT series in time for the NCAA’s college basketball tournament. The tournament starts on Tuesday and runs until April 4th.
“The sports calendar rarely matches the drama and spectacle of the college basketball tournament in March, so we chose this month’s event to start this new digital collector’s program,” said DraftKings co-founder. One Matt Kalish says.
The 2022 College Hoop Collection It’s the first of the planned Primetime NFT series to stop by around other major sporting events. Beth Bayriger, senior vice president of marketplace operations at DraftKings, told Blockworks that the company could launch a future NFT collection alongside the NBA Playoffs and the Super Bowl.
The launch will begin after DraftKings announced the Digital Collector Marketplace last August. This marketplace offers carefully selected NFT drops to support trading in the secondary market. At that time, it announced that it would be the exclusive distributor of sports-related NFT content from the NFT platform Autograph.
According to Beiriger, the new NFT series is the first time the company has connected digital collections to legacy products. NFT holders of the 2022 College Hoop Collection will receive DraftKings site credits to place bets on sportsbooks and entire daily fantasy products, and participate in pools, brackets and contests.
Collectors who have all eight NFTs in their collection will receive a ninth NFT after the NCAA Championship Game, giving them early access to the next Primetime NFT Series drop.
“We see sports as the main driving force for blockchain adoption, and digital collectibles are an important part of that early onboarding process,” Beiriger told Blockworks.
“Among cashless concessions in the stadium, online tickets, and much more today, as NFTs take this trend further, consumers are already conditioned on the continued digitization of sports. “Masu,” she added.
According to Beiriger, the company is also paying close attention to the blockchain gaming space as the Play-to-Earn model is gaining momentum.
The company plans to debut an NFT-based fantasy game for the next NFL season. A contract with the NFL Players Association grants DraftKings licenses to active players in the league.
Polygon partnership
DraftKings announced last week that it will partner with infrastructure platform Zero Hash to invest its digital assets in the Treasury to support the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain network.The news is about the company Previously disclosed partnership Use polygons.
“As a validator, DraftKings will play a more active role in the Polygon ecosystem, ensuring blockchain integrity and protecting the network,” said Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal. Says.
Drafting Web3 talent
In cryptocurrency initiatives and plans, the company is trying to bring talent into the space, job listings show.
DraftKings, for example, is looking for a senior Web3 engineer for the NFT Marketplace to help the company “build and scale its blockchain infrastructure to ensure scalability and availability across the platform,” according to its website. I am.
The company is also working on research related to cryptocurrencies, blockchain and NFT markets, looking for fraud experts to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering regulations.
The company has made a direct transition to blockchain, cryptocurrency and NFT experts, including through the acquisition of Scarcity Labs last year, but is scrutinizing all industries for those who can help DraftKings grow.
“Cryptospace is still very early and growing rapidly, so we don’t want to miss out on our best talent by focusing solely on crypto natives,” said Bayriger.
“Just as we want to attract customers through mainstream accessibility, we want to attract a diverse pool of talent from different native professional backgrounds or transferable skill sets.”
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