In Brief:
- Golden State Warriors and FTX announced a partnership to launch NFTs.
- NFTs will be accessible on FTX.us starting in early 2022.
- This is Warrior’s first international collaboration.
The Golden State Warriors and FTX.US announced a first-in-sports cryptocurrency partnership on Dec. 14th. The Warriors will release NFTs on FTX.US beginning in early 2022.
The Warriors’ collaboration with FTX is the team’s first international rights partner, meaning the team and FTX will have a visible market presence, complete with logo and likeness, on a global scale.
Brandon Schneider, the Warriors’ President, and Chief Operating Officer stated, “cryptocurrency has a well-established worldwide community and is going to continue to be a major part of the sports, media, and entertainment industries.”
He further stated, “in our conversations with FTX, we quickly realized our joint desire to innovate around cryptocurrency integration and adoption, including the role NFTs play in global fan engagement.”
With the franchise’s Legacy NFT Drop, which contained various editions of the team’s six NBA Championship rings and ten commemorative ticket stubs, the Warriors became the first team in sports to conduct an NFT drop earlier this year.
The team holds the record for the largest sporting NFT transaction with its 1-of-1 6x World Championship Ring selling for 285.111ETH i.e., about $871,591.27 USD.
The Warriors and FTX will gift three Bitcoin to three Bay Area organizations that target educational equity to mark the collaboration. Self-eSTEM, Mission Bit, and Techbridge Girls are the three winners.
Self-eSTEM builds self-esteem in impoverished girls and young women while simultaneously delivering engaging, culturally relevant STEM literacy, leadership, and technical training to enable them to use STEM as a foundation for social and economic development.
The President of FTX in the United States, Brett Harrison, said that “through our partnership with Stephen Curry, we were introduced to the Warriors organization, and we are excited to partner with a franchise that aligns with our core values.”
He further continued by saying, “the FTX US NFT Platform will provide a leading, safe and secure venue for the Warriors international fan base to access exclusive collectables from the franchise.”
Before getting into this collaboration, FTX US launched to trade Ethereum-based NFTs and became the first NFT marketplace that accepted both Ethereum and Solana NFTs.
FTX will get branding placement on the basket pole pads and press table for the Santa Cruz Warriors, the team’s G League affiliate, in addition to the Golden State Warriors.
FTX will have their logo virtually placed on the Warriors Gaming Squad court during NBA 2K League games and will be integrated into various elements during Golden Guardians live streams, including League of Legends Championship Series (LCS), Super Smash Bros. Melee, and World of Warcraft, for the Warriors’ esports brands.
