Athletes, artists, and NFTs

Curious about athletes, artists, and NFTs and why NFT entrepreneurship has been taking off recently? Celebrities from Jack Dorsey to Dolly Parton are coming out with NFTs. But NFT entrepreneurs take it beyond just selling non-fungible tokens – they create real businesses around the digital asset.

Below, we’ll explore the world of NFT entrepreneurship, including why celebrities are getting into NFTs, what being an NFT entrepreneur means, and some of the creative ways celebrities are building their NFT businesses.

What does NFT entrepreneurship look like?

First of all, what even is an NFT entrepreneur? Can you really construct a viable business from NFTs? If you only think of NFTs as over-hyped JPEGs, it might be hard to believe that there are successful NFT entrepreneurs out there. But it’s true!

 NFT entrepreneurship is more than just NFTs. These entrepreneurs build NFT companies that provide a way for athletes, artists, and NFTs to come together while also offering real-world value to their loyal fans.

In addition to selling a special piece of digital memorabilia, NFT entrepreneurs often include experiences like one-on-one meetings with them, access to special parties and events, and perks like sports games tickets and other gifts. 

But there are also NFT businesses that aren’t brand-based. Some NFT entrepreneurs use NFTs for social change, such as helping endangered animals.

Why get into NFTs?

So why would celebrities and entrepreneurs want to get into NFTs? And why would it be appealing to fans?

On the celebrity side, starting a business around NFTs offers them more direct control over their content, what they sell, and how they choose to sell it.

Traditionally, celebrities have to deal with several middlemen when creating their merchandise. They might need to ask permission from managers and representatives for the companies they’re signed to. 

This also means that celebrities split the profits among all these different people, and they don’t really have direct ownership of the final product.

But with NFTs, athletes, artists, and other celebrities decide how to run their business, fully own their content, and receive all the profits. 

Ownership is also a reason fans gravitate toward NFTs. NFTs promise fans ownership over a unique piece of content no one else can have. This rarity helps add to the appeal – like a digital trading card. 

Many people also get into NFTs because close communities are built around them. Celebrities can drive engagement among their fan base and foster a deeper connection with them.

Athlete NFT entrepreneurs

Dez Bryant

One example of an athlete NFT entrepreneur is Dez Bryant. Bryant founded the NFT company Personal Corner in 2016 to help bring together influencers, athletes, artists, and NFTs. 

But the company is focused on more than just NFTs – it wants to help athletes and other influencers utilize blockchain technology to own their content and connect with their fans.

When Bryant launched his first round of Juggernaut NFTs through Personal Corner in 2021, each one came with in-person experiences such as an invitation to his birthday party, tickets to Cowboy games, and one-on-one interactions with him.

Other athletes have partnered with Personal Corner to create similar connections with their fans. In 2022, the company released the Athlete Series One collection, featuring NFTs by Von Miller, Trevon Diggs, Hollywood Brown, Matthew Judon, and Maxx Crosby.

Tom Brady

Brady co-founded an NFT company called Autograph in 2021 with a similar aim of offering content from entertainers, cultural icons, athletes, artists, and NFTs. The site has NFT collections from notable names like Tiger Woods, Tony Hawk, Simone Biles, Usain Bolt, The Weeknd, and of course, Tom Brady.

Autograph has a vibrant community on Discord and features a leaderboard that showcases top Autograph collectors and their NFTs.

Aside from NFTs, Autograph also offers collectors in-person experiences with their favorite celebrity, unique physical merchandise, and live auctions. 

Musician NFT entrepreneurs

Snoop Dogg 

Snoop Dogg has been heavily involved in NFTs and the metaverse. In 2021, he released his first NFT project with Crypto.com. This was an art collection called “A Journey with The Dogg” that featured unique art along with memories from Snoop Dogg’s early years. 

Shortly after, he partnered with the creator of Nyan Cat to create some Nyan Cat and Snoop Dogg-themed NFTs.

At the end of 2021, Snoop Dogg announced he would star in an NFT sitcom with the Harlem Globetrotters. The show is called “Da Dogg Gone Gym” and will feature a unique NFT collection. 

He also partnered with a metaverse gaming platform called Sandbox, where players can interact with athletes, artists, and NFTs. Players can attend Snoop Dogg’s virtual concerts and purchase digital collectibles, like avatars and NFTs. As part of the project, Snoop Dogg issued 1,000 invitations to a private metaverse party where players can interact with him and get exclusive NFTs.

Most recently, Snoop Dogg acquired ownership of his record label Death Row Records and announced he would turn it into the first NFT record label.

Grimes

Another musician heavily involved in the NFT world is Grimes. While she doesn’t have her own NFT company, she has successfully sold $6 million worth of the digital asset, making her one of the best-selling NFT artists.

In 2021, she came out with a collection of 10 digital art pieces on an NFT auction platform called Nifty Gateway. The highest-selling NFT sold for $389,000 and was a video set to an original song by Grimes.

Celebrity NFT entrepreneurs 

Gary Vaynerchuk

Vaynerchuk is the creator of a popular NFT project called VeeFriends. The project features a collection of 10,255 NFTs of hand-drawn animals, all drawn by Vaynerchuk himself. These tokens are organized into three different tiers, with each tier offering the buyer special perks and benefits. 

For example, the bottom tier is the Admission tokens. It has the most NFTs: 9,400 of the 10,255. People who buy these tokens gain access to VeeCon, an exclusive, multi-day conference event hosted by Vaynerchuk that covers business, marketing, entrepreneurship, and innovation. 

The second tier, Gift tokens, gets holders access to VeeCon and physical gifts sent by Vaynerchuk and the VeeFriends team. The top tier, Access tokens, get owners access to VeeCon and exclusive invitations to meet and hang out with Vaynerchuk, either in person or virtually. The NFTs that include in-person hangouts include doing activities with Vaynerchuk, such as working out, getting dinner, fishing, or playing poker.

The benefits included with all tiers last for multiple years, expiring on May 4, 2024. This means NFT holders can attend VeeCon and receive their other perks every year until the expiration. Of course, the NFT as a piece of art does not expire!

Vaynerchuk is a well-known figure in the NFT world and has been bullish on the technology. VeeFriends was created as a way for him to combine his interest in NFTs and smart contract technology with his desire to create a vibrant interactive community of his followers.

Paris Hilton

Another celebrity making waves in the NFT industry is Paris Hilton. The heiress sold a three-piece collection of NFTs in 2021 for $1.1 million. She collaborated with designer Blake Kathryn to create the pieces. In 2022, she collaborated with another female artist named Dayzee to create another series called “Paris: Past Lives, New Beginnings.” 

Hilton has stated she is excited about NFTs because they’re an innovative way for entrepreneurs and content creators to design unique art and memorabilia and connect with their fans on a more personal level.

What’s the future for athletes, artists, and NFTs?

So will these athletes, artists, and NFTs be around in the long term? Vaynerchuk has stated that we’re in the middle of an NFT craze and that eventually, as many as 98% of NFT projects will fail. However, he believes the overall market and technology are definitely here to stay, which means many NFT entrepreneurs can find success.

NFT technology is still new and growing, and people are discovering new use cases for tokenization, the process behind creating NFTs, in industries like real estate.

Plus, the NFT market was valued at $22 billion in 2021. Some predict that by 2030, it will be as high as $60 billion, showing that the popularity of NFTs isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.