Bedroom walls, office picture frames, and college lockers are all examples of sticky-tape. These are just a few of the many ways sports fans have preserved the images of their favorite sports stars that appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine for 60 years.
With this in mind, and as Web3 tensions continue to build, New York-based magazine decided it was time for these memorabilia pieces to seek refuge in the digital realm. This led to the launch their NFT collection, the Sports Illustrated Covers.
The first NFTs will be released in a partnership between OneOf, an NFT platform, Jonathan Winbush, an award-winning 3D animator, and Sports Illustrated, Authentic Brands Group. It will feature three of the most prominent figures in NFL history, Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice. The NFTs will include a 3D-animated, reimagined cover from their iconic magazine.
To lower the barriers to entry for fans and allow them to expand their interest in sport into NFTs, the price of pieces in the Sports Illustrated Collection will start at $25. Each athlete’s magazine cover has multiple levels of rarity. We will have more information in the coming weeks, but we can expect the collection dropping during the Super Bowl on February 13th.
Future issues of the collection will feature iconic magazine covers by the likes Muhammad Ali, Mia Hamm and Billie Jean King. They also include Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Shaquille Ol’Neal. O’Neal has already made his way into the world NFTs with his Theeras of Dominance collection.
