Mark Cuban and other billionaires join the NBA Blockchain Committee
The NBA’s „top shot“ business is booming. Now the sports giant is taking its blockchain ambitions a step further.
The NBA’s blockchain ambitions
The American basketball league, the National Basketball Association (NBA), has launched a blockchain advisory committee made up of its billionaire owners – such as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, according to a report by sports publication Sportico.
Members of what the NBA calls the „Blockchain Advisory Subcommittee“ include Ted Leonsis, owner of Monumental Sports; Steve Pagliuca, co-owner of the Boston Celtics and Bain Capital; Vivek Ranadive, owner of the Sacramento Kings; and Ryan Sweeney, co-owner of the Utah Jazz.
The announcement comes amid the recent success and popularity of „Top Shots“, a digital card collection Bitcoin Future game developed by licensing partner Dapper Labs. The deck includes player cards and short videos called „highlights“ that regularly sell for more than $200,000.
Data from crypto analytics app Dappradar shows that Top Shots generated more than $267 million in trading volume last month, and $10 million (and 121,000 users) in the last day alone. The marketplace generated over $230 million in total revenue.
According to the report, details of the association remain private so far, but the group’s mandate is to explore ways to integrate blockchain into the league’s overall business. However, Cuban was quoted in an email saying, „It has very little to do with Top Shot. It’s about blockchain applications, of which Flow is just one option,“ he said, referring to the blockchain through which Top Shots are issued.
Increasing use of crypto
The members of the Blockchain Association are Cuban and Ranadive, who owns the Sacramento Kings. They are among the most public supporters of blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the business world.
In 2014, the Kings became the first major US professional team to accept bitcoin, and four years later were the first to set up a cryptocurrency mining programme.
Meanwhile, NBA teams are historically adept at using and accepting cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in their arenas and related businesses in gaming, sports betting and digital arts.
Many players are also investors in Dapper Labs, such as Andre Iguodala, Aaron Gordon and JaVale McGee. Spencer Dinwiddie, an avid crypto enthusiast, also tried to tokenise his 2019 NBA contract.
Cuban has become a popular crypto evangelist lately. He’s a big believer in Ethereum (Go to Buy Ethereum Guide), DeFi apps and cryptocurrencies in general, and last week introduced Dogecoin payments for Mavericks fans to buy stadium tickets and other merchandise. It has been possible to buy merchandise from the team with bitcoin for two years.
