The rampant speculation that caused NFT trading to skyrocket and sports collection NBA Top Shot to generate more than $200 million in monthly trading during crypto’s last bull run may never return, but digital collectibles startup Candy Digital has the confidence not lost that sports fans’ love for their favorite teams and players can drive adoption and consumption in the web3 arena.
“This year we will introduce 100,000 new customers to the [Candy Digital] platform through our digital ticketing product,” company CEO Scott Lawin told The Block. “That’s the most effective way to introduce someone to the space, because this is someone expressing their fandom by buying a ticket and going to a game. And they get the opportunity to get their hands on a digital asset and it captures that experience.”
In addition to selling officially licensed Major League Baseball collectibles, Candy Digital offers fans commemorative cards throughout the year.
The first time NFT owners are getting their hands on tickets
Lawin predicts that Candy Digital will introduce an additional 250,000 consumers to digital asset ownership through its commemorative ticket campaign and 500,000 consumers by 2024. He said most people who visit Candy Digital’s platform after going to a baseball game been dealing with web3 for the first time.
“They go to a baseball game and are given the opportunity to redeem a commemorative digital ticket. They come to the Candy website and then see the opportunity to purchase a pack of digital trading cards,” he added. “They open the package and get the same kind of excitement with a much more dynamic asset than a pack of cardboard.”
Whatever they’re called, NFTs and digital collectibles have largely transformed since the bull run boosted prices and trading volumes for top collections. While interest in profile photo NFTs like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club has been declining for more than a year, well-funded Web3 companies like Candy Digital and Dapper Labs continue to target sports fans with digital memorabilia NFTs.
The speculative market disappeared
Candy Digital launched its Major League Baseball NFT marketplace in early 2022, while Dapper Labs set the gold standard for sports NFTs after trading volumes for its NBA Top Shot collection surpassed $200 million in early 2021.
“Top Shot clearly captured a lot of the early fire and momentum and got a lot of people into the room. A lot of that came from collectors, but a lot of it was speculative,” says Lawin, adding that while he believes blockchain-based digital assets will revolutionize sports memorabilia, he doesn’t expect the heady days of the 2021 bull run will yield something. soon time.
“I don’t think we’re going to flip a switch and suddenly see $200 million worth of Top Shots trading every month,” he said.
Candy Digital raised $38.5 million in early 2023, after previously raising $100 million at a $1.5 billion valuation in October 2021.