Candy Digital, a new digital collectibles company, is getting in on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with Major League Baseball (MLB) through a new long-term partnership. 

Candy Digital is a new venture into the digital collectible market with a focus on NFTs. It is being launched by a trio of heavy hitters, Mike Novogratz, Michael Rubin, and Gary Vaynerchuk.

With their combined experiences in sports, fintech, cryptocurrency, and digital media, the company is looking to make a big splash in the burdening NFT space. 

The firm has made a huge first step with its announcement of a multi-year licensing deal with the MLB to produce NFTs.  

Baseball legends as NFTs

The initial release will feature baseball Hall-of-Famer Lou Gehrig and will go live on July 4. 

The debut NFT will be designed to pay homage to Gehrig’s legendary 1939 “luckiest man” speech. This was the speech he gave when he announced his retirement from baseball. 

It was also the day he announced his ALS diagnosis, now commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The announcement by Candy Digital comes the day before the league will celebrate their first Lou Gehrig Day. The day honors those who have ALS and raise awareness about the disease.

The Gehrig NFT collection will include a number of digital artworks along with an actual video of Gehrig speaking.

Gehrig has several historic moments in his career that MLB may choose to commemorate. Candy Digital and MLB will run these NFT sales on the Ethereum blockchain. All proceeds will go to ALS research and awareness charities.

The perfect team

If there is one thing that sports fans go nuts for, it is collectibles and memorabilia.  It seems almost natural then that NFTs and sports would find each other.

While MLB has now signed the most significant and comprehensive NFT licensing deal to date, they are far from the first league to make the jump to digital collectibles. 

NBA Top Shot is likely the most noteworthy of them all. The digital basketball trading card project has changed the world of NFTs and that of sports cards in general.

The idea is pretty simple. Fans can purchase packs of cards with varying levels of rarity and value with each containing digital art that highlights notable moments in NBA history.

The response to this project has been immense. Sales eclipsed $33.6 million in a single day in February. It recently crossed the 1 million user mark. 

Players have been getting in on the fun as well. Many individuals teaming with digital artists and crypto brands to launch their own NFT collections. Names like Rob Gronkowski, Steph Curry, and Pelé have been selling collections.