Aaron Rodgers Injury Sends DraftKings NFTs Soaring for Backup QB

As New York Jets’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers fell sufferer to a season-ending ankle damage after 4 snaps with the long-beleaguered NFL franchise on Monday, backup Zach Wilson stepped as much as lead the workforce and face off in opposition to the Buffalo Payments. And rapidly, Wilson’s fantasy soccer NFTs shot up in worth.

Thrust into the nationwide highlight for a high-stakes matchup in opposition to a divisional rival, Wilson’s related NFTs on DraftKings’ Reignmakers—the fantasy sports activities agency’s blockchain-based recreation—promptly surged as Rodgers’ damage grew obvious.

The “elite” model of Wilson’s digital participant card on NFL Reignmakers for 2023—a Polygon-based NFT that’s restricted to 30 complete editions in circulation—bought for between $69 and $99 at kickoff on secondary markets. However lower than 10 minutes later, the worth of Wilson’s NFTs on secondary markets had jumped to $400 after Rodgers’ damage.

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An ESPN broadcast of the sport later confirmed Rodgers in a medical boot, hobbling off a cart to get his ankle X-rayed. By the point Wilson’s workforce rallied to an extra time victory in opposition to the Payments, the backup QB’s aforementioned “elite” NFTs on NFL Reignmakers had been listed on the market as excessive as $555, with the newest sale on Monday mustering $285.

The swing in NFT costs captures how rapidly fortunes can change within the NFL, the place one participant’s damage is usually a career-defining alternative for an additional. When it comes to sports activities, the flux showcases NFTs as property that may trip an athlete or workforce’s trajectory.

As in conventional fantasy soccer or the Final Group recreation mode that’s turn out to be a profitable staple of EA Sports activities’ Madden recreation franchise, DraftKings’ NFL Reignmakers duties contributors with assembling a roster of NFL gamers to compete in opposition to one another.

Factors are awarded to gamers based mostly on their efficiency, comparable to a landing seize or a given gambit of speeding yards. As rewards, contest winners are paid out in money, digital “packs” containing gamers, or particular NFTs, in line with DraftKings’ web site. DraftKings says that it’ll give out $30 million value of prizes this season.

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Whereas the umbrella for DraftKings’ NFT fantasy recreation covers soccer, the UFC, and the PGA Tour, Reignmakers has garnered over $206 million in complete gross sales over the course of its existence, in line with knowledge from CryptoSlam.

As of this writing, the gathering has raked in practically $527,000 in gross sales over the previous day. That locations Reignmakers above a number of standard profile image NFT collections, such because the Bored Ape Yacht Membership and DeGods.