NFL Bars Teams From Selling NFTs, Sponsorships to Crypto Trading Firms: Report

The National Football League has prohibited its teams from selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) or sponsorships to cryptocurrency trading firms, The Athletic reported Friday.

• Clubs are restricted from selling “advertisements for specific cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings, other cryptocurrency sales or any other media category as it relates to blockchain, digital asset or as blockchain company,” according to an anonymous team official reading from the guidelines to an Athletic reporter.
• The policy allows for sponsorships with companies that mainly provide investment advisory or fund management services related to cryptocurrency, such as Grayscale Investments’ deal with the New York Giants. (Grayscale is a CoinDesk sister company.)
• Players’ individual ventures appear to be excluded from the rule. Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady has an equity stake in FTX along with ownership of an NFT platform partnered with DraftKings.
• The NFL has lagged behind other major leagues in entering the NFT space. The National Basketball Association has enjoyed a lucrative partnership with Dapper Labs’ NBA Top Shot dating back to May 2020, and Major League Baseball recently launched its own NFT marketplace with Fanatics-owned Candy Digital in July.

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