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The Australian Football League or AFL recently released an NFT collection called the Ripper Skipper 2022 NFT which sold out as soon as it was launched.
Earlier this year, the AFL announced a five-year partnership with Animoca and Be Media, suggesting that NFTs would be released in the future.
Skipper Ripper NFT
AFL NFTs are based on the captains of the league’s teams.
There are a total of 78 “great moments” for future owners to collect, each showing several highlights with the AFL team skippers in the 2021 season.
NFTs are more than just portraits of captains; they also include a video clip and audio of the captain in action.
Each NFT pack gives potential owners a 90% chance of getting Common Cards, 8% for Deluxe Cards, and 2% for Ovation Cards.
The packs have a retail price of $34.39 USDC, and the project is estimated to have raised over $130,000 in USDC.
The launch
The 2022 Ripper Skipper NFTs launched on Wednesday as part of the AFL Mint program.
The program allows people who have joined the “allowed list” to purchase one of 3,800 drop-only packages.
Once the NFTs went live, they sold out in less than 12 hours.
The packs
Ripper Skipper NFT packs also have a 10% chance of giving a special, extra-utility-carrying Genesis Ball NFT among the three cards.
With the utility, AFL Mint plans to evolve through the addition of certain NFTs in the hopes of engaging experiences for AFL fans.
The plans include game-day events, unique content, and metaverse hangouts with the players.
Executives
Kylie Rogers, the Executive General Manager Customer and Commercial at AFL, is excited about the possibilities with the NFTs. He said:
“Through our AFL Mint brand, we will launch exciting new moments across our men’s and women’s competitions, plus celebrate past greats and other product releases that will bring a unique fan experience we haven’t seen before.”
Jordan Fogarty, the CEO of Be Media, and Yat Siu, Animoca’s Executive Chairman, chimed in with opinions of the NFT drop, both raising the word “excited” multiple times.
Other notes
The launch of the Ripper Skipper 2022 NFTs shows that the AFL is following the footsteps of other international sporting codes that have delved into Web3.
NBA Top Shot received critical acclaim in 2020, and earlier this year the UFC premiered UFC Strike.
Ripper Skipper 2022 is not alone as other Australian sports codes have done the same.
Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) both signed multi-year licensing agreements in April with Singapore-based collectibles platform Rario and NFT trading company BlockTrust.
The Queensland Rugby League has also dropped 10,000 NFTs called The Ultimate Queenslander NFTs on the Flow Blockchain.
References:
AFL’s first limited-edition NFT drop sells out in under 12 hours
Ripper Skipper: the AFL launches its first set of limited-edition NFTs
