We welcome 54 new subscribers to the Sporting Crypto Newsletter who have joined us over the last week!

Join 944 readers who are interested in exploring where Sports meets Crypto. If you're reading this and still haven't signed up, click the 'Subscribe' button below to join sports industry leaders and fans learning about Web3!

If you’re already subbed - thank you very much. Please be sure to share the newsletter with your friends and colleagues!

Intro Notes, Plugs & Amendments 🔌🔧

🔌 Floorcast Ep. 4! Having a lot of fun with this podcast :)

🔌 If you're interested in becoming a headline sponsor for the newsletter - feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Stories of the week

Nike’s first NFT drop - MNLTH

RTFKT continue to be *the* pioneer when it comes to digital goods.

And with Nike’s resources behind them, it seems as though this rocket ship is only going to go higher, faster and further than we once thought.

Their latest drop - MNLTH - a cube that is co-branded with RTFKT & Nike logos both etched into it.

On their Opensea page, the description reads:

The MNLTHs on Opensea have already had almost 5k ETH worth of trading volume on them since the 5th of February 2022. At the time of writing, that’s $15,371,294. The floor on MNLTH is 5.65 ETH, which is north of $15,000. These are big sums involved, and you can see exactly why Nike wanted to acquire RTFKT. They have a product-market fit and a brand that sells. In a world where a lot of brands are doing NFTs and Web3 generally quite badly, that’s unbelievably valuable. MNLTH NFTs have been airdropped to Clone X holders, which is one of the top traded NFT collections in the world with a total transaction volume of 115,000 ETH+

They’re also dropping Loot Pods, which are an extension to their original pod virtual room project - that can also be used as a standalone NFT:

As you can see, the Loot pod features Nike’s brands on the wall.

The pods can be customisable - and the community can create digital assets that can be used in them.

Below is a basketball court that has been created by a community member…

Whether you’re into NFTs or not, this is just cool.

RTFKT are showing the way for many in terms of just how much effort should be taken into creating value through NFTs. A lot of people look at NFTs as a scam or cash grab. And whilst this is making cash, the effort involved in executing what they are doing should be viewed with anything but that lens. They’ve created something genuinely cool that people want.

In any line of business, that’s really fucking difficult. It’s even more so in a space that is having to face a lot of backlash right now, some merited, some just ridiculous.

Now what these cubes might be or turn into, I’m unsure. What I can be sure of is that with the brand power and community that RTFKT wield, combined with Nike’s network, brand loyalty and talent - I don’t really know what the limit is for this project in particular and the brand themselves.

I think we’ll look back at this as being one of the best acquisitions in modern business history.

Facebook (now Meta of course!) buying Instagram. Google buying YouTube. I genuinely think this will be right up there.

Marketing & Execution

Most web3 projects or businesses either have a good product and bad marketing, or bad marketing and good product. And there aren’t that many good products. So, make of that what you will.

RTFKT have got the right balance of mystique and delivery. They keep you on the hook but don’t drag it out too long that you think it’s overhyped.

Their execution is paramount, and they ship.

The quality and quantity are both exceptional, and they’ve generated incredible amounts of value for themselves, their community and now Nike.

What the future holds for Nike’s involvement? I’m not 100% certain, but I think the potential is face-melting.

The ability to leverage their talent network in the sporting world and to collaborate with RTFKT greenfield projects or their existing community - is going to be explosive.

They’re dipping their toe in right now, with hints at what is to come with sneak peeks, logo etchings and such. But make no mistake about it, the first full blown Nike drop will be crazy.

If you hate NFTs, that’s fine. But they’re not going away any time soon. And it’s likely you’re going to have to get used to them because 2022 is set to be another huge year for digital assets.

More big sports crypto stories & things to put on your radar

• The NFL is dropping NFTs with Superbowl tickets. Pretty cool. Ticketing is something I’ve talked about for such a long time, and we’re going to see more of these - whether they’re with tickets or replacements for them.

• Another attempt at DAO owned football clubs…this time involving Gary Neville and others from United’s class of 92!

• Man United strike training kit deal with Tezos

• Tony Hawk launches his NFT collection ‘Last Trick’ and is unsurprisingly met with outrage. But as always, a lot of weird outrage.

• A project to watch….xG studios!

• Pretty tone deaf from the Brooklyn Nets with this post

Great reads, great tweeting and more general ‘stuff

• Matty DCL with a great thread on brands and celebs launching NFTs

• What could NFTs become? The possibilities are genuinely limitless

• DAOs aren’t a fad — They’re a platform

• NFT Hate has taken new levels this week. I know we live in a world where clicks are paramount, and tribalism is rife - but this has become ridiculous

• This project drop by 100T is becoming another case study to watch.

• Crypto won’t kill everything, but it will change most things.

• Punk6529 - the prolific Twitter threader, has started a fund for institutional investors 

Thanks!

Thanks for reading the latest edition of the Sporting Crypto newsletter. I’m really happy to see so many people enjoying it and sharing it with their networks. If you enjoyed this, please tell your friends who might be interested - and share it on social :)