NBA Top Shot’s host blockchain, Flow, is getting a $725 million boost through a new ecosystem fund backed by its parent’s company’s investment arm, Dapper Ventures, and a high-profile group of investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue and Digital Currency Group, among others.
NFTs Rumors
Despite the volatility, activity of Flow is thriving. Flow saw daily transactions triple since September 2021 to over 700,000, and the number of active accounts on the network has shot up to a new all-time high of more than half a million this week, according to blockchain analytics platform Flowscan. Some of Flow’s most popular projects include sports collectibles such as NBA Top Shot and NFL ALL DAY.
The Utah Jazz are trying to continuously push themselves to the edge of innovation. In September, they launched a “groundbreaking” NFT program, which allowed access to a first-of-its-kind virtual locker room and meet-and-greet with Jazz Owner Ryan Smith. The NFTs sold out within 90 minutes. Now, Riley Demps, Qualtrics’ NFT project manager, promised that the NFT program would not be a one-time opportunity, and Jazz SVP of communications Frank Zang said phase two of the NFT program is coming soon. On March 1, the Jazz announced that the team had partnered with CoinZoom, which is now the exclusive NFT marketplace for the Jazz.
That has been the emphasis for the Jazz — finding new ways to bring in fans and get them involved. In October, the Jazz streamed a live practice via Zoom to fans from 44 countries and 42 states. Last month, the team hit 2.1 million followers on TikTok, the second-most among any NBA franchise (the Warriors are first with 3.7 million). Jazz Bear, Utah’s mascot, has more followers than 10 NBA franchises.
NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony has boarded Lil’ Heroes, an animated series based on the NFT collection, from Exile Content Studio and Spanish artist Edgar Plans. Anthony and his producing partner and co-founder of his Creative 7 content company, Asani Swann, will executive produce the series and Anthony also will voice one of the characters in the series.
