Candy Digital, a digital collectible company focused on sports, released digital collectible non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of Boston College football wide receiver Zay Flowers on Thursday as a part of its 2022 Candy Sweet Futures collection.
Flowers’ NFT drop comes amid a surging number of college athletes participating in Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. NIL laws were first implemented in June 2021, when the Supreme Court ruled in a 9–0 decision that the NCAA can’t restrict educationally linked benefits to college athletes.
With NIL legislation in effect, more and more college athletes are joining the NFT market.
According to Forbes, an NFT is a digital asset that can be bought and sold online. NFTs come in a variety of forms including art, music, and videos, and they are typically encoded with the same underlying software as cryptocurrencies.
This edition of Candy Sweet Futures includes NFTs of 17 college football players. Eight were initially released in September, and the other nine, including those of Flowers, were released on Thursday. Other FBS athletes in the collection include Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman, Florida State’s Mycah Pittman, Alabama’s Malachi Moore and Ga’Quincy McKinstry, and Oregon’s Noah Sewell, among others.
The NFTs are available for sale on Candy Digital’s website. Buyers can purchase a “mystery pack” for $20, which contains one icon—a term used by Candy Digital to refer to its NFTs—at random from the players included in the drop. Buyers can also purchase a seven-icon pack for $125 that includes seven random icons of the players in the collection.
Once purchased, owners of the NFTs can list, buy, and sell icons on Candy Digital’s secondary marketplace.
Each icon comes in three distinct versions: core, rare, and legendary. In the seven-icon pack, buyers are guaranteed a “rare” icon.
Hartman, Moore, and Pittman have announced the release on their personal Instagram pages, but Flowers has not.
Will Cutrone, director of public relations and communications at Candy Digital, confirmed to The Heights that Flowers will be compensated for the sales.
College athletes have the ability to profit off their NIL through brand deals and partnerships with other companies. Other BC athletes have participated in a variety of NIL deals, including selling their own merchandise, holding youth camps and clinics, partnering with local businesses and restaurants, and more.
The announcement of Flowers’ NFTs comes as the global NFT market grows. According to Forbes, NFTs have gained popularity since their inception in 2014. In 2021, the market for NFTs was worth $41 billion.
Candy Digital, a digital collectible company focused on sports, released digital collectible non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of Boston College football wide receiver Zay Flowers on Oct. 13 as a part of its 2022 Candy Sweet Futures collection.
Flowers’ NFT drop comes amid a surging number of college athletes participating in Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. NIL laws were first implemented in June 2021, when the Supreme Court ruled in a 9–0 decision that the NCAA can’t restrict educationally linked benefits to college athletes.
“I think [NIL legislation] is a good opportunity to just expand the knowledge of all the athletes around the country and just give them a chance to do something that they didn’t do before,” Flowers said.
With NIL legislation in effect, more and more college athletes are joining the NFT market.
According to Forbes, an NFT is a digital asset that can be bought and sold online. NFTs come in a variety of forms including art, music, and videos, and they are typically encoded with the same underlying software as cryptocurrencies.
This edition of Candy Sweet Futures includes NFTs of 17 college football players. Eight were initially released in September, and the other nine, including those of Flowers, were released on Oct. 13. Other FBS athletes in the collection include Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman, Florida State’s Mycah Pittman, Alabama’s Malachi Moore and Ga’Quincy McKinstry, and Oregon’s Noah Sewell, among others.
The NFTs are available for sale on Candy Digital’s website. Buyers can purchase a “mystery pack” for $20, which contains one icon—a term used by Candy Digital to refer to its NFTs—at random from the players included in the drop. Buyers can also purchase a seven-icon pack for $125 that includes seven random icons of the players in the collection.
Once purchased, owners of the NFTs can list, buy, and sell icons on Candy Digital’s secondary marketplace.
Each icon comes in three distinct versions: core, rare, and legendary. In the seven-icon pack, buyers are guaranteed a “rare” icon.
Hartman, Moore, and Pittman have announced the release on their personal Instagram pages, but Flowers has not.
Will Cutrone, director of public relations and communications at Candy Digital, confirmed to The Heights that Flowers will be compensated for the sales.
College athletes have the ability to profit off their NIL through brand deals and partnerships with other companies. Other BC athletes have participated in a variety of NIL deals, including selling their own merchandise, holding youth camps and clinics, partnering with local businesses and restaurants, and more.
Flowers has signed a number of NIL deals in the past, including a partnership with Playa Bowls and a deal with McGovern Auto, through which he received a free one-year lease of a $90,000 BMW.
The announcement of Flowers’ NFTs comes as the global NFT market grows. According to Forbes, NFTs have gained popularity since their inception in 2014. In 2021, the market for NFTs was worth $41 billion.
Update (10/25/2022, 11:55 p.m.): This article was updated to include a quote from Flowers.
Robert Brennan contributed to reporting.
