Rob Gronkowski # 87 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tips the ball after scoring a 17-yard touchdown in the second quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium on February 7, 2021 in Tampa, Florida.
Patrick Smith | Getty Images
Rob Gronkowski enters the digital collection room and publishes his own NFTs.
The narrow end of the National Football League has teamed up with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) marketplace OpenSea to bring out five digital trading cards with Super Bowl moments. The NFTs will feature Gronkowski’s career highlights and will be designed by the visual arts studio Black Madre.
Gronkowski NFTs do not contain NFL team logos as OpenSea does not have the league’s license entitlement. The hand illustrations will emulate iconic games from Super Bowls he has participated in, and Gronkowski will sign the digital cards.
In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Gronkowski said he heard about the digital collection room during the 2020 NFL season. He cited Mark Cuban’s approval of NFTs as another reason he wanted to enter the room.
“I see what’s going on and it just explodes,” said Gronkowski. “I wanted my fans who live in the digital world to get a part of this promotion.”
NFTs are growing in popularity in the sports world, especially since the National Basketball Association’s partnership with Dapper Labs grew in importance after sales of more than $ 230 million.
The digital collectibles are tied to a blockchain, a digital ledger similar to the blockchains used for digital currencies like bitcoin. This effectively gives each NFT a unique and non-hackable Certificate of Authenticity. Gronkowski is just the newest household name jumping on the NFT trend. For example, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is selling his first tweet as an NFT with bids of up to $ 2.5 million. Taco Bell even joined the trend this week selling a digital piece of art featuring tacos.
Gronkowski’s NFTs will be available on the Ethereum blockchain where Dapper launched his CryptoKitties game. The collectibles are four moments, 87 issues each, from Gronkowski’s appearances in Super Bowl XLIX, Super Bowl LI, Super Bowl LIII, and Super Bowl LV in February.
In addition to the 348 NFTs, a “refractor card” will also be auctioned. The owner of this NFT will have a meeting with Gronkowski at an NFL game next season.
“I think what’s unique about the way Rob approaches his special NFT is the way he remembers the four Super Bowls and signs them by hand. This creates a one-of-a-kind offering that is different from everything else,” says Joe Silberzweig, co-founder of Medium Rare. a management and events company that works with Gronkowski.
“I think when Rob saw the success of NBA Top Shot grossing millions of dollars, he felt an entrepreneurial need to take it into his own hands and create something for himself and his fans,” added Silberzweig.
Back to Tampa?
Gronkowski, 31, is an unreserved free agent after spending last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won the Super Bowl LV. When asked if he plans to sign with the Bucs again and play with Tom Brady again, he said it was “a great opportunity”.
“I’m a free agent so I’m not going to sit here and say I’ll be 100% back in Tampa,” added Gronkowski. “That’s where I want to be and I hope that’s where they want me to be. They have yet to go through this process, but I will definitely play football [in 2021]. “
Gronkowski made $ 62 million in his career and made around $ 9 million last season with the Bucs. His investments include a fitness products company – Gronk Fitness – and an Italian restaurant (Rocca) in Tampa. Gronkowski also has a recommendation from T-Mobile.
Gronkowski’s NFTs will be available Thursday on Gronknft.com. Consumers can purchase the digital artwork in the currency of Ethereum. The auction ends on Saturday.
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