One of the biggest NFT collections in the market, Azuki, just took the NFT game to the next level; Azuki #8494 became the first-ever NFT to be put on an F1 car. This cooperation between Azuki and Red Bull Racing came as a result of the partnership that Tezos and ByBit have with Red Bull Racing. NFT enthusiasts are incredibly excited about the collaboration between Azuki and Red Bull Racing. Understanding that this is the first time an NFT project partnered with such a major sports tournament, they are not to blame. We have seen numerous cryptocurrency projects partnering with sports organizations, but this was not the case with NFTs. For example, one of the biggest sponsors of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar is Crypto.com, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the US.
Red Bull Racing made this partnership official through a tweet. There, they introduced Lei the Lightning Azuki through an extremely cool animation. By becoming the first NFT to be put on an F1 car, Azuki “broke the ice.” In the near future, we may see many more NFT projects partnering with sports or even Esports teams and organizations. Nevertheless, as amazing as the technology behind non-fungible tokens is, not everyone is open to it. With the Proof-of-Ownership that NFTs provide, in-game skins or even artwork that gives you real-life benefits are easier to distribute.
NFTs and Sports in 2022
The Ballon d’Or awards ceremony, the biggest ceremony in football, included several NFT prizes this year. The ceremony took place in Paris on the 17th of October. There, players such as Karim Benzema (2022 Ballon d’Or winner) and Robert Lewandowski (2022 Gerd Muller Trophy winner) earned a one-of-a-kind NFT. Moreover, the organization that hosts these awards made a publication regarding the future of this event. According to their website, they are tirelessly working towards building Web3 experiences for football fans. Additionally, they announced their own NFT collection which became available for the public by the end of October. These NFTs will not only be collectibles but will also have utilities, according to the NFT Ballon d’Or website. One of the utilities that a lucky collector might earn is Ballon d’Or ceremony access for 20 years.