Why Is It Hard to Replicate the Success of NBA Top Shot?

Decrypt

Read this article in 14 Minutes

In the current landscape of various sports leagues, what is the reason only the NBA can drive the NFT market into such a frenzy?

Original title: "Why the NBA Is Built for the NFT Craze"

Original source: Decrypt, author and editor-in-chief Daniel Roberts

Original translation: Odaily Planet Daily

Why the NBA can successfully create NFT, but other sports leagues cannot copy

NBA Top Shot is really crazy right now and is officially backed by the NBA, the smartest sports league on the planet. You will find that the popular NBA Top Shot blockchain collectibles market is a great fit for the NBA, but can this success be replicated in other sports leagues?

For many people, NFT is actually hard to understand. Even Oklahoma City Thunder star Isaiah Robbie doesn’t know if he will buy the Top Shot he dunks, but the NBA does Fully accept this new thing. Sometimes you don’t even know what magic NBA Top Shot has used to achieve such amazing growth. In the past 30 days, collectors have actually spent $255 million on the blockchain collection platform to buy highlight video clips of NBA stars. .

On Top Shot, buyers line up for "pack drops" and then bid on the stars' "highlight moments" "(moments), such as Warriors star Steph Curry's three-pointer, Lakers star LeBron James' violent dunk, and Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson (Zion Williamson) A shot-blocking video actually sold for $100,000 in January. On NBA Top Shot, these moments are referred to as "digital trading cards," but that's not quite the right description because they're videos, not still images.

All content and transactions are on the blockchain, Top Shot is essentially an NFT (Non-Fungible Token), A non-replicable virtual asset that cannot be divided, and there is no need to worry about being stolen. Because the blockchain is a decentralized, publicly viewable, and tamper-resistant ledger, the virtual goods you own have verifiable scarcity. Typically, NBA Top Shot releases only a few batches, and in some cases even one.

Not only that, but the "tentacles" of NFT have also extended to the fields of art and music. This Friday (March 5), the pop-rock band Kings of Leon became the first band to release an album in NFT. They discovered the album called "When You See Yourself" and three types of Token: the first The token will be a special album package, a second token will provide the holder with living allowances such as front-row tickets, and a third token will be used for "audiovisual arts." All tokens will also feature artwork by the band's creative partner, Night After Night. In addition, a series of technical issues for the release of this NFT album will be managed by blockchain startup YellowHeart, including smart contract development.

However, according to DshotRadar data, NBA Top Shot is still the most active NFT market, with more than 65,000 in the past week active traders, compared to 12,000 at OpenSea traders, while the "third place" CryptoPunks has only 300 traders - it is worth mentioning that NBA Top Shot accepts US dollars, which means that although its token is built on the blockchain, you can actually completely Not understanding it or holding tokens.

Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management Company InvestmentPeople Ross Gerber believes that when the price of NFT is higher than that of Bitcoin, it will attract market attention. The last time was ICO. Whenever the situation of Bitcoin starts to improve, there will always be new hot spots, just like flies flying around. However, if there is no "blockchain" concept, many people will have such a question: why should I "own" a digital video that can be watched directly on Twitter, Instagram or YouTube?

This is indeed a good question. For now, it is really difficult to give a convincing answer.

NFT believers will say: Yes, you can watch the highlight moments of NBA stars online, appreciate a work of art online, But that feeling is nothing like the fact that you actually own this online video or digital artwork. But NFT skeptics will also counter: If I have an art painting, I can hang it on the wall at home, but what can you do with NBA Top Shot?

NBA Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is very bullish on NFTs. The realization that "I have to actually be able to touch the artwork" while also realizing that the joy of ownership is what really counts. Mark Cuban is not the only "big coffee" who accepts and is optimistic about NFT. Celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan (Lindsay Lohan) and Paris Hilton (Paris Hilton) have also joined them.

But for now, trying to transfer Mark Cuban's philosophy to NFT skeptics still doesn't make much sense. Perhaps the only thing that can attract everyone's attention is only one way: a price that shocks the outside world! In the past February, some NFT prices have soared by more than $1.5 million, and the transaction price of Hashmask 6718 even reached nearly $500 million. Some of the most expensive footage of top NBA basketball games, such as the “2019-20 LeBron James” NFT from the “Cosmic” kit, can fetch upwards of $200,000. Some NBA fans will even pay $100,000 to $125,000 for the same NFT (but from a different set). In addition, the "2019-20 Zion Williamson" and "2019-20 Ja Morant" NBA rookie NFTs also sold for $100,000.

So, why can the NBA successfully create NFT, why can't other sports leagues replicate it?

Next, let Mr. Planet (ID: o-daily) and everyone take a look at the differences in the NBA.

Top Shot is developed by the blockchain company Dapper Labs. class="font">GamesWhen the product "crypto cat" CryptoKitties was launched, the Ethereum network was paralyzed because it was too popular. Therefore, when Top Shot was launched, it soon received full support from NBA officials, and the "highlight moment" game videos of all stars were approved by the NBA, which increased authenticity and trust. Interest, the NBA league can also benefit from it, achieving a win-win situation (it is said that the market share has also doubled).

Due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the NBA season has shrunk, and even the All-Star Weekend in Atlanta on March 8 has canceled the rookie game. However, by using Top Shot, the NBA can actually "make a sum of money" to increase revenue. It is reported that NBA Top Shot has reached a cooperation with the NBA League to choose a "highlight moment" for each NBA player selected as an All-Star, and in March 7 to turn it into a set of digital collectibles. In order to cooperate with the smooth development of related work, the NBA even established a blockchain advisory committee, which is composed of several billionaires such as Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and Joe Tsai, the owner of the Brooklyn Nets. The other members are Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and Accel partner, Utah Jazz minority shareholder Ryan Sweeney, the main task of the committee is to explore the integration of blockchain into the NBA method of business.

Aside from the NBA, which professional league can do this? Which sports league can do this? At least so far, there is and only the NBA. Compared with football, Major League Baseball, and American football, players in the NBA league are very active on social networks. Long before the "Black Lives Matter" protests in the United States woke up all other sports leagues, the NBA encouraged players to express social issues. It also received a lot of praise for being outspoken.

The online popularity of Major League Baseball (Major League Baseball) is simply not comparable to that of the NBA. An encrypted collectibles platform, MLB Crypto Collectibles, was launched in July 2018, but this platform has not caught on at all. In 2019, it was forced to change its name to MLB Champions, but it still didn't catch on. In the words of fans, MLB collectibles are like "virtual fools", and now on OpenSea, the MLB NFT market is dead.

Could the NFL try to use encrypted collectibles with similarly great success? Maybe, but frankly, it's rare to see a sports league that puts as much effort into NFTs as the NBA, let alone the NFL's social media buzz.

Orlando Magic star Terrence Ross, winner of the 2013 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, explained:< /span>

“The players are working with the NBA League Office to create the Top Shot, which in turn increases fan excitement and engagement. Although many The price of NBA Top Shot was started to be high, but many loyal fans seem to be young people who love NAB. They are full of enthusiasm. Buying NBA Top Shot may not be regarded as an investment. The reason why they buy , because I thought it was cool, new, and fun.”

NBA Top Shot has been a long-term commitment to the NBA League, with more to come. Imagine what it would be like when the NBA league started adding classic material to Top Shot, such as "Game of the Century: Havlicek Steals!" NFT is introduced to the market, think about how much impact it will have?

It can be predicted that as the popularity of the NBA gets higher and higher, the Top Shot frenzy will also rise simultaneously.