Interactive NFTs the future for sport, Vegas Sphere excites: NFT Collector

Andy Murray x Wimbledon x Refik Anadol

A special open edition NFT collaboration between tennis star AndyMurray, Wimbledon and well renowned digital artist, Refik Anadol. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of tennis star Andy Murray winning Wimbledon.

Andy Murray wearing sensors. (Twitter)

The Exposition describes itself as a world first exploration into the marriage of fine art, high performance sport and data science. In the teaser video it reveals how the artwork is a visual representation of points played including body movement across Murrays illustrious career at the last remaining grass court tennis major.

At a price point of $147, 248 editions have been minted to date with the mint window closing on 16 July. Buyers can mint using crypto or via a credit card on Manifold. Holders of the token will also later be afforded the opportunity to buy a physical print edition of the artwork.

The Exposition describes itself as a world first exploration into the marriage of fine art, high performance sport and data science. In the teaser video it reveals how the artwork is a visual representation of points played including body movement across Murrays illustrious career at the last remaining grass court tennis major.

At a price point of $147, 248 editions have been minted to date with the mint window closing on 16 July. Buyers can mint using crypto or via a credit card on Manifold. Holders of the token will also later be afforded the opportunity to buy a physical print edition of the artwork.

9The Exposition artwork. (Manifold)

I believe what we are witnessing here is the early signs of a trend for where sports memorabilia and general fandom is headed. The collaborative nature of digital art/collectibles and the ability to layer utility on top is too big of a value proposition for sports administrators and athletes alike to ignore.

The future will start with digital first. Scalability and accessibility are huge drivers for sports that command a global audience. As NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last week at NBA Con:

Because our buildings are essentially full, we cant scale our arenas, 99.9-something of our fans only experience the NBA through our media. Through technology, how can we extend beyond that products like NBA Top Shot are ways to do it.

US Womens Golf Open ArtBall

Last week, golf followed in the footsteps of the Australian Open tennis grand slams NFT project the AO ArtBall, rolling out a similar concept for the US Womens Open. Using the same name ArtBall the USGA teamed up with some of the same architects on the project, which ties a piece of the surface area of the sports field to an NFT.

More than 3000 people minted an NFT for free that correlated with a plot of the 17th green at host course Pebble Beach. In the tennis version a match point landing on your area saw your NFT upgraded, but the US Womens Open opted for a variety of ways to provide upgradable traits including landing points, closest to the hole and longest hole out. More here on how the mechanics worked.

The ArtBall concept is a strong one where we see the integration of existing highly sophisticated sports data tracking technology and a new way to engage with fans by blurring the lines between physical and digital experiences.

Kudos to artist Amy Goodchild who spearheaded the generative art on the golf balls. They look very clean and crisp. This is another example of sport and art blending together via NFTs.

UFC to integrate collectibles with a mobile-first game

The UFC announced a new multi-year partnership with Concept Labs to help build upon the already launched UFC Strike collectibles product built on Flow.

Cornerstones of the new deal include UFC Strike: Fight Camp a mobile-first roster management game compatible with UFC Strike digital collectibles, holders will also participate in matchmatcher sweepstakes where you can meet UFC president Dana White to pitch a dream fight matchup, plus other exclusive digital and IRL fan experiences.

Whats hot in NFT art markets

Some big sales for Fidenzas at 75 ETH and 71 ETH, Ringers #514 went for 88 ETH and a Bold Chromie Squiggle sold for 28.5 ETH.

But the past week has really belonged to Terraforms by Mathcastles with more than 145 sales for the onchain land art project that launched in December 2021. By comparison, the previous week saw 50 sales. The collection floor moved from 1.2 ETH up to 2.17 ETH the past seven days.