U.S College Football Joins the NFL in the NFT World

U.S College Football is a major draw for sponsors, with play-off games seeing tv audiences of more than 20 million. Similar to the NFL play-off season, the College Football Playoff is a postseason knockout tournament. The winner becomes the national champion of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.

For the players, moving into the NFL is a tall order. According to one report, only 1.6% of college footballers make it to the NFL. That means that only the very best of the NCAA will make it pro. When considering the fact that there are reportedly more than 1 million high school footballers, the fall to just around 70,000 NCAA players is dramatic. The drop-off from college to pro reflects just how competitive the sport is at the professional level.

NFTs and American Football

Such is the level of interest in the 4 major U.S sports franchises that NFT marketplaces have been established to cater for each individually. In September 2021, the NFL and Dapper Labs (FLOW) announced a partnership to take pro football to the NFT marketplace. NFL sports fans can collect digital video highlights of the NFL’s biggest plays of the season on the NFLALLDAY marketplace. The move followed on from the Dapper Lab-NBA collaboration that led to the creation of the NBA’s Top Shot NFT marketplace.

College Football Mints NFTs for NFL Hopefuls

Following the end of the NCAA play-offs and with college football’s elite eyeing a lucrative future in the NFL, the organizers of the Reese’s Senior Bowl reportedly partnered with Panini to create a single-edition NFT for each player at the game. For college football, the Reese’s Senior Bowl is a showcase of the best players in college football. By invitation only, the all-star game takes place each year and the NFL website highlights the best players from the practice sessions and from the game itself.

In the past, Panini had created personalized physical trading cards for Senior Bowl players. This year, the players had individual NFTs minted on the Panini blockchain, with Panini transferring the NFTs to the players. The value of the NFTs may well depend on the outcome of the 28^th April NFL draft. Some may hold onto them for a little longer. A rookie of the year accolade would drive demand for one of the newly minted NFTs…