Own Cricket Moments With NFTs
It’s a great time to be a fan of both cricket sports and blockchain technology. From the looks of it, there are millions of dollars flowing into companies that bring cricket into the world of NFTs.
Faze is a startup company founded by Sumar Raman, the former COO of the Indian Premier League. He is joined by Kusagri, an avid entrepreneur, and Anshum Bhambri, the CEO and a former broker from Wall Street.
Faze Technologies successfully raised $17M after a seed funding round led mainly by Dapper Labs and Tiger Global. The main goal of Faze Technologies was to bring cricket NFT’s to the public sphere and help build the cricket metaverse. Obtaining licenses from the International Cricket Council was critical to receiving funding.
Other notable contributors for the funding round include Vivek Rana Dive (owner of the Sacramento Kings), Courtside Ventures, Samsung Next, Sequoia Capital India, and Coatue.
Who’s Backing The Cricket NFTs?
For those who don’t know, Dapper Labs is the company behind Flow blockchain. They are also behind the NFT platform, NBA Top Shot, a video-moment collectible that caught mainstream attention during the early months of this year.
Dapper Labs is no stranger to the startup game either, having raised its own $250M seeding round last September at a $7.6 billion valuation, according to Coindesk.
Faze plans to duplicate the NBA Top Shot model by using ICC’s deep archive of Cricket historical moments.
Faze Technologies’ is not the only game in town. Rario is another company in the space that launched its own platform last August with a few cricket leagues already signed on. They too are offering the opportunity to own “Cricket Moments” from the Caribbean Premier League, similar to the format NBA Top Shot is using.
Now you’ll be able to collect moments from the 2021 CPL live, in addition to watching it.
So What About The Metaverse?
Since Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of the Metaverse, tech startup companies have been throwing out the term abundantly. But, what does it really mean for the cricket nfts?
The company’s CEO, Anshum Bhambri, has stated:
“Our mission is to build the metaverse for cricket. We are in a unique position to combine NFTs, gaming, financial utilities and money-can’t-buy experiences. Every NFT purchase can be made directly within seconds via a mobile wallet, or a credit/debit card. Without the need for a crypto wallet. Ensuring that every transaction is as easy as possible.”
Faze is not yet clear on the specific details, but apparently the plan is to build a play-to-earn platform that may involve “NFT battles.” This is on top of Faze’s plan to further engage users by incorporating notable cricket events. There may also be a once-in-a-lifetime winning opportunities model that could be in the pipeline.
Australian Cricket NFTs?
There are rumors that Aussie Cricket stars may have a connection with the ICC-Faze partnership. Reports speculate that they may be licensing the image rights for sale via NFTs. Alternatively, Cricket Australia might be partnering in a bigger way, with involvement in the overall plan. Either way, this could be one of the most lucrative cricket deals since broadcasting rights.
For now, we can all wait for more details related to the Australian Cricket and NFT-related deal.
In closing, Faze Technologies’ is hoping to capitalize on a multi-billion dollar idea of bringing together Cricket and crypto. With plenty of funding and good connections in their favor, but are face stiff competition from the incumbent, Rario, who launched their own platform last August. These deals will likely spread to other countries as well.