Another Sunday, another roundup of the top three NFT stories of the week, this week covering a licensing deal that’s more than okay, golfers whacking out official NFTs and a multimillion dollar NFT bonfire. Confused? You won’t be.
Okay Bears Signs IMG Licensing Deal
Popular Solana-based NFT project Okay Bears announced this week that it has teamed up with global entertainment leader IMG to launch a range of consumer products and experiences. The deal gives IMG exclusive representation rights for the community-focused project, which consists of 10,000 NFTs in a range of outfits.
The project made $18 million in sales within 24 hours of its April 2022 launch on NFT marketplace Magic Eden, outselling even top Ethereum collections. The deal means we can expect Okay Bears rucksacks, pencil cases to be carried into schools up and down the country in the coming months, leading to a whole new level of bullying.
Okay Bears has signed with @IMG, the world’s number one licensing agency.
Managing over $15B in annual retail sales for the world’s biggest brands, @IMG looks to unlock our brand’s potential through strategic product licensing and collaborations.https://t.co/o7v77D3PJx
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— Okay Bears (@okaybears) September 20, 2022
Autograph Tees Off With PGA Tour
The golf world’s premier professional tour, PGA Tour, has partnered with U.S. football quarterback Tom Brady’s NFT marketplace Autograph to create its own dedicated NFT platform. The multi-year tie-up will see NFT content created from the PGA’s archive of videos and player data, with the proceeds going where they are most needed in order to expand the reach of grass roots golf – the players’ pockets.
PGA Tour says that the platform will pull tour competition video, data, imagery and other competition-related components, giving golf fans the opportunity to own and collect NFTs featuring the best PGA TOUR golfers in the world as well as some of their favourite moments from the archives and the current Season.
Collectors Additionally will also be able to earn rewards with a wide range of utilities, including access to exclusive digital, in-person and onsite experiences, along with other program benefits.The new NFT platform is set to launch sometime in early 2023.
Damien Hirst to Set Fire to Art Behind NFTs
Artist Damien Hirst plans to set fire to thousands of pieces of art that inspired his first NFT collection, but the multimillion dollar bonfire is all part of the plan. The story starts back in 2016 when Hirst began work on a conceptual art project, creating 10,000 unique but visually similar spot paintings. In July 2021, at the height of the NFT boom, Hirst revealed these would form the basis of his first NFT collection – The Currency.
Would-be buyers entered a lottery to pick up a piece for $2,000, with winners given a choice – they could keep the NFT and see the physical painting incinerated, or swap it for the original, with the digital version obliterated instead. Buyers had a year to make their minds up, a deadline that has now expired: 5,149 buyers opted for the physical artworks, 4,851 kept the NFTs.
As a result, Hirst is planning to set fire to 4,851 pieces of spotty art, starting next month, leaving the NFT version as the only remaining incarnation.
