Story at a glance
- The MLB will tokenize and sell former Yankees baseman Lou Gehrig’s iconic speech as an NFT.
- NFTs are digital assets that have exploded in growth.
- Beginning the week of July 4, 2021, the MLB will release a series of baseball memorabilia as NFTs for sale.
The MLB is entering the new and lucrative nonfungible token (NFT) market as it prepares to trade and auction special baseball memorabilia as digital collectibles.
Announced on Tuesday, one of the first MLB NFTs will be the iconic speech made by Lou Gehrig, a legendary professional baseball player who was diagnosed with the degenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — also called Lou Gehrig’s disease — forcing his sports career to end.
Gehrig’s speech came on July 4, 1939, in the Yankees Stadium in New York City. In it, he referred to himself as “the luckiest man on the face of this earth” despite having a terminal illness.
“I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for,” Gehrig concluded.
The speech will become the first NFT released by the MLB for sale, working in tandem with Candy Digital and Fanatics, two collectibles companies entering the burgeoning digital asset space.
NFTs have become the hottest assets on the market, being auctioned off for substantial amounts of money at legendary auction houses including Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
The precise definition of an NFT is flexible, but they are always digital. Some of the recent NFT sales that have made headlines include the internet clip “Charlie Bit My Finger,” a collage of drawings by digital artist Beeple titled “EVERYDAYS: The First 5000 Days,” and even the popular meme, “Disaster Girl.”
Once sold as NFTs, the buyer is granted ownership of the original and authentic copy of the NFT, making it a potentially profitable investment. The owner will be given a token proving they own that original copy.
A critical part of NFT sales is the work’s encryption into blockchain that makes it impossible to duplicate.
Gehrig’s speech is set to go to auction as a 1-of-1 NFT the week of July 4, with proceeds set to be donated to ALS charities.
Robert Manfred, the MLB commissioner, likened the league’s new NFT items to baseball trading cards and autographed baseballs.
“As a lifetime collector myself, I couldn’t be more excited for what this partnership means for both creators and consumers, especially the uber-passionate MLB community who craves collectibles and celebrating the iconic moments that makes this game so special,” said Candy Digital board member, Gary Vaynerchuk.
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