Curry Brand, a division of sportswear firm Under Armour, has partnered with Cyber Kongz, Hape, Chibi, and Smilesss to develop a massive metaverse community for basketball fans.
The partnership will see a collection of leading brands working with Web3 technologies to develop Basketball Headz, minted avatars that work seamlessly with real-time sports performance.
????Sporting Crypto – June 14th 2022: Steph Curry from NF3????
Really interesting to see how Steph, @UnderArmour and @bball_headz are building athlete led NFTs in an exciting way!https://t.co/aKQIWyciwA
— Pet (@PetBerisha) June 14, 2022
The first-ever project follows the Stephen Curry-inspired Genesis Curry Flow, who currently plays for the Golden State Warriors and surpassed the three-point record for the National Basketball Association (NBA). His Metaverse debut began with a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Sports fans across the world can collect the specialised basketball NFTs, or NF3s, which have been linked to Curry’s sports record amid the ongoing NBA playoffs. Collectors can receive a free NF3 for each digital wallet, each game, and each time the star athlete scores a three-pointer shot up to 18 June.
Curry Brand’s partnership will also include four IP Serums worth $50 USD each to combine to create a Baskretball Headz avatar. Curry Brand’s Mixology Lab will open the NF3s on 1 July across metaverse platforms such as Decentraland, Gala Games, and The Sandbox.
The Under Armour brand will also reward its nearly 3,000 Genesis Curry Flow holders with early access to buy the NF3s and IP Serums from 19 June, the company explained. Berlin Cameron, Luna Market, and Newkino developed the NF3s for sale exclusively using Ethereum on 19 June.
Ryan Drew, General manager of Under Armour’s Curry Brand, said that his brand aimed to help build communities and connect people with Stephen Curry’s creation “through their shared love of the game.”
He continued, adding,
“The opportunity to extend this community into the metaverse in an exciting and meaningful way for Curry Brand to expand how we engage with fans”
Drew concluded that the community’s expansion to the Metaverse would create an “exciting and meaningful way” to connect with fans.
Additional details about the minting process will be released in the coming weeks, with new and exciting opportunities for Basketball Headz to come in the months ahead.
Henry The Grape from the CyberKongz Council of Kongz added Web3 technologies had helped expand the community globally to unite people “centered around our love of the blockchain.”
He added,
“We believe that NFT’s will change the way people value communities as well as the integration of blockchain technology in our every day lives”
The news comes after numerous sportswear companies such as Timberland, Nike, Adidas, and many others have begun incorporating NFT and Metaverse technologies for their brand campaigns.
The firms have turned to the Metaverse to allow their customers to engage with prototyped shoe designs, build interactive virtual communities, compete for prizes, and keep up to date with product releases.
