Dapper Labs, a creator of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the Flow blockchain, has reached a deal with the NFL to create an NBA Top Shot-style marketplace for digital football collectibles, according to a report by Sports Business Journal.
Sources told the publication that the deal makes Dapper Labs the NFL Players Association’s second-largest source of digital licensing revenue behind EA Sports’ “Madden” video game franchise.
Just like its basketball counterpart, the NFT marketplace will run on the Flow blockchain and is expected to be released during the current NFL regular season, which wraps on Jan. 9.
Video content will be the central aspect of Dapper’s new project, just as it has been for the company’s prized basketball product, which has traded $780 million worth of collectibles so far in 2021.
Dapper Labs closed a $250 million funding round on Sept. 22 that valued the company at $7.6 billion. It comes shortly after Sorare, soccer’s leading NFT shop, added $680 million to its war chest in a funding round that valued the company at $4.3 billion.
