NFL Expands Ticket Stub NFTs to 101 Games

For select games last season — including the Super Bowl — the NFT experimented with an NFT ticket stub program whereby NFT loyalists could receive a ticket stub as a non-fungible token to commemorate the event. Due to the program’s success, the NFT is expanding it.

Starting in the 2022-2023 season, the NFL is broadening its ticket stub program to include 101 regular season games. The slate of scheduled contests where NFL fans can receive an NFT ticket stub consists of all regular season games in Week 1. In addition, the NFL is stipulating that all teams must offer NFT ticket stubs for at least three home games.

Abby Desai of the NFL’s Club Business Development team said the league is involved in a “test-and-learn” phase with NFT technology. But one thing was sure entering the 2022-2023 season: It wanted to allow all 32 NFL teams to use NFTs to engage with fans at the local level.

Desai added that the NFT ticket stubs “filled the void” from when the NFL moved from physical tickets to mobile tickets. Now, NFL fans have keepsakes from which they can remember their experiences at games. NFTs also pose a unique business model in that NFL fans can resell them on secondary markets.

For the 2022-2023 season, NFL teams will mint the NFT ticket stubs on the Flow blockchain. Flow is the home of Dapper Labs, which runs the video-clip NFL All Day platform. During the 2021-2022 season, the NFL minted most of its NFT ticket stubs on the Polygon blockchain, an Ethereum Level-2 scaling solution. The major exception to this practice was the Super Bowl, where minting occurred on Flow.

NFL Bets Big on NFTs & Web3

The NFL has traditionally been one of the slowest major North American sports leagues to take on innovation. But with NFTs and Web3, it has been one of the fastest. Here are three examples of the NFL’s moves in the NFT and Web3 space.

Five months ago, it culminated its initial foray into NFTs by offering attendees of the Super Bowl commemorative NFT ticket stubs. The NFT ticket stubs, which started at the beginning of the season, were primarily keepsakes, but like NFTs in general, holders could sell them on secondary markets.

Also five months ago, the NFL created a new position called the senior manager of content partnerships. The person who filled that role was responsible for working with Web3 technologies like NFTs and finding opportunities in augmented and virtual realities.

Then, two months ago, the NFL moved further into Web3. It partnered with Mythical Games to produce a blockchain game called “NFL Rivals.” The game proposed a unique reward system, with players receiving digital and IRL prizes.

As the expansion of the NFL NFT ticket stub program indicates, the NFL appears bullish on Web3. Here at Rarity Sniper, we will look for any news of what it has planned next.