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While Major League Baseball is putting some finishing touches on getting into the NFT game, here’s a player minting his own. This is the first NFT distributed by a big league player — and the proceeds will go to a very good cause. Bidding closes in less than 24 hours. https://t.co/u7JwcUDUbP— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 18, 2021
With the COVID-19 pandemic significantly limiting revenue opportunities, the timing for sports organizations and athletes to dive into the cryptocurrency and NFT world made sense.
Former University of Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski, now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, took advantage of the craze early. He partnered with Medium Rare for an NFT card collection that sold out and brought in an estimated $1.8 million, Cointelegraph reported. The collection included five tokenized cards featuring in-game action shots of Gronkowski during championship-winning games.