The National Football League, or NFL, has reportedly prohibited its teams and players from becoming involved with cryptocurrency, crypto sponsorships, or the red-hot NFT market.
The NFL told its teams,
“Clubs are prohibited from selling, or otherwise allowing within club controlled media, advertisements for specific cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings, other cryptocurrency sales or any other media category as it relates to blockchain, digital asset or as blockchain company, except as outlined in this policy.”
From the wording of the directive, it appears that the NFL is serious about keeping its clubs out of anything having to do with cryptos and NFTs. With all the hype surrounding NFTs it is difficult to see why the league would take such a staunch anti-crypto stance.
The NFL is Walking Away From a Massive Market
The market for NFTs is exploding, and sports teams are perfectly placed to enter the space. With the rough year that COVID19 created for professional athletics, it is difficult to understand why the NFL would cut off its teams from an easy source of badly needed income.
To be sure, any NFL NFTs could be a massive success, as many sports fans love to buy merch from their favorite teams. It is impossible to know if the NFL is taking a firm stance on this issue, or if it is waiting to gain more clarity on how NFTs operate.
Sports Stars Love NFTs and Crypto
While the NFL is coming down hard on cryptocurrencies and NFTs, numerous pro athletes are buying up collectible NFTs, and letting the world know they are interested in the space as a whole.
Malik Monk, who plays guard at the Lakers, recently Tweeted that he purchased an NFT from the Top Dog Beach Club collection, and plans to buy more NFTs in the future. Clearly, this is great for the NFT market, and may attract other celebs to the space.
Tom Brady, the former Patriots Quarterback, has become heavily involved in the crypto and NFT space. He already issued his own line of NFTs, and may be influential in the space as time goes on. As he is retired, he is able to skirt the NFL ban, and operate with impunity.
In the National Basketball Association, or NBA, there is no trouble with issuing NFTs. The Golden State Warriors, a popular NBA team, has released its own line of NFTs, which was commercially successful.
Still Growing as an Asset Class
Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, just paid $500,00 for an EtherRock NFT, which is one of the oldest collections of NFTs out there.
According to Sun,
“It’s just like Picasso in 1932 – it represents the beginning year of lots of our works. I think all the art collections in the year 2017 represent the beginning of the NFT even though most of the arts might not be understandable by people outside of the cryptocurrency industry, but I believe those NFTs are going to become more precious in the future as long as the industry continues to grow.”
The image that Sun purchased is of a gray rock with two red lights, which resemble glowing eyes. EtherRocks debuted in late 2017, and may become more valuable if people start to look for early NFTs that were created around the time of the 2017 crypto boom.
While many people thought that 2017 was a bubble, 2021 has demonstrated that 2017 was just a portent of things to come.
NFTs may be the same – especially when we view them in fiat currency terms. With the ongoing debasement of the global fiat monetary system – $500,000 might not seem like much in a few years from now.
