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The NBA is trying to take sports NFTs to the next level, but last week’s attempt certainly failed. Meanwhile, a Dutch soccer club faces insider trading allegations, a UFC fighter is unhappy with the league’s latest NFTs, and a WNBA team becomes the league’s first to publish their own NFTs.
It’s been a major NFT week for sports and crypto as teams, leagues and athletes explore new ways to engage with fans. Every Sunday we cover the latest week of sports and crypto action with The sports slice. As we head into the last week of April, let’s review all the action from the past week.
The sports slice
Dubai to Host First-Ever NFT Sporting Event with Mayweather Pay-Per-View Fight
While Floyd Mayweather has established himself as one of the greatest glove-lacing boxers, his reputation in the NFT space isn’t quite as polished. Mayweather has faced lawsuits, SEC judgments and calls from crypto sleuth @zachxbt on more than one occasion.
However, Mayweather is making history with the first-ever pay-per-view sporting event with NFT tickets. In mid-May, Mayweather will fight Don Moore in Dubai, with tickets exclusively available through Rarible.
Ajax FC players face NFT trading allegations based on inside information
Dutch football club Ajax FC is being investigated by the Dutch Gaming Authority over allegations of insider trading on the NFT Sorare platform, according to BNR local outlet. Sorare has a deal with Amsterdam’s biggest football league, the Eredivisie, and that deal could be at risk as players allegedly sold NFTs from a team’s main goalkeeper and bought NFTs from a team’s goalkeeper. reserve goal before it was revealed the reserve keeper would start in the league cup final. It is unclear from the reports whether the regulatory scope will include things like NFTs in the country.
Sorare released a statement that wasn’t particularly suggestive, saying the company is “reviewing recent reports of unfair behavior by professional football players and will take appropriate action to ensure fair play for our community.”
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Dapper Lab's FLOW blockchain powers all of the company's NFT platforms, including Strike, the UFC's league-licensed NFT hub; Strike took some heat from UFC fighter Nate Diaz this past week over what Diaz saw as hypocrisy from the league. | Source: FLOW-USD on TradingView.com
The NBA’s Messy Dynamic NFT Debacle
The NBA attempted dynamic Ethereum-based NFTs last week with a new “NBAxNFT”-branded release titled “The Association.” However, at the time, some major loopholes in the project’s contract emerged, which resulted in many people paying excessive gas fees and not receiving any NFTs, and others receiving multiple NFTs while it was supposed to be limited to one per wallet/user.
To add fuel to the fire, the project announced after the first flop that this would increase the mint cap from 18,000 to 30,000 NFTs – only adding to the frustration of the community.
UFC fighter Nate Diaz expresses frustration with NFT League
Longtime UFC fighter Nate Diaz has been a strong advocate for cannabis use in the league, which has come with a slow burn of internal membership that has left him facing suspensions and positive cannabis tests over the years. Last week, the UFC jumped at the chance to celebrate 4/20 (the “cannabis holiday”) with a new NFT release courtesy of its Strike platform – provided in partnership with Dapper Labs.
Check out what Diaz had to say about the release of the UFC 4/20 pack:
It’s shit like that why I need to get the hell out of UFC sorry. Didn’t you suspend Nick for 5 years and fined me money for a vape pen? ! Now you are reaping the benefits. I hope no one buys this bullshit 👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼🖕🏼 pic.twitter.com/I3yPB9uJT9
—Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) April 20, 2022
New York Liberty becomes first WNBA team to feature NFTs
The New York Liberty will be the first WNBA team in sports league history to offer team-specific NFTs, according to an announcement last week. The first release will come as a set of 400 NFTs available May 7 – in tandem with the team’s season opener against the Connecticut Sun. Liberty CEO Keia Clarke told members of the media last week:
“I think we are always looking to be innovative. We love directing and feel we should direct here in New York. We have ownership support and a really unique idea to continue what our release schedule was.
The WNBA has been an early mover compared to other major sports leagues when it comes to league-wide NFT deals, partnering with Top Shot and Dapper Labs to include WNBA athletes on the platform. form Top Shot last August.
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Featured image from Pexels, Charts from TradingView.com
The writer of this content is not associated or affiliated with any of the parties mentioned in this article. This is not financial advice.
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