OneOf Expands Sports NFT Presence With New Collection on Polygon

The digital sports collectible market is growing faster than ever, and non-fungible token (NFT) platform OneOf is planning to get in on the action.

The company announced the launch of its “Sports Pass” collection on Thursday, a series of one-of-one 3D-rendered NFTs designed by animation studio 8th Frame that grant holders exclusive perks on OneOf’s new sports-themed NFT marketplace.

Along with pro sports partnerships, OneOf says it has a series of college team sponsorships in the works, a growing area of interest in the burgeoning sports NFT landscape.

The first of its college partnerships is with the iconic Duke University basketball program.

Polygon, not Tezos

OneOf’s sports marketplace, announced earlier in February in partnership with Sports Illustrated, will live on the Polygon blockchain. The decision marks a departure from Tezos, the blockchain where the company has made a name for itself with its music marketplace.

“We love Tezos, but there was a desire to diversify a bit and bring in a different buyer pool,” Joshua James, co-founder of OneOf, told CoinDesk in an interview. “We think it makes the tent bigger, and we like that as an idea. We think it’s going to be a multi-chain world.”

Polygon, a layer 2 expansion system for Ethereum, is becoming a popular choice for smaller NFT marketplaces focused on high-quality, low-cost collections, coming off a $450 million funding round raised earlier this month.

OneOf’s sports marketplace has already signed partnerships with famous athletes including Wayne Gretzky, Mia Hamm and the estate of Muhammad Ali, cornering what many describe as the “normie” NFT market aimed at the general public. Collectibles on OneOf’s marketplace are purchasable with credit cards, in addition to crypto.