What happened to NFL’s NFTs? Analyzing stunning fall of Patrick Mahomes-endorsed crypto venture

Even Kansas City Chiefs talisman Patrick Mahomes couldn't save the NFL's NFTs from crashing.

The quarterback teamed up with blockchain-based software development company Dapper Labs in August 2022. The goal was to expand its work in the licensed NFT sports market, partnering with the NFL on its own NFT marketplace, NFL All Day.

In 2021, the company signed a deal with both the NFL and OneTeam Partners as a marketing joint venture founded in part by the NFLPA. The plan was to create and sell NFTs to the football audience by using video clips from the NFL.

However, Dapper later realized that the project would not be able to generate enough revenue to cover the minimum guarantees it had agreed to pay.

Due to the failing business model, the NFL players association OneTeam Partners threatened to sue the company. The two parties then took several months to renegotiate a new deal as the NFT market continued to take a hit.

NFL poster boy Patrick Mahomes couldn't turn things around for NFL All Day

Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes

Dapper used Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes to brand their NFT collection but NFL All Day failed to attract new consumers and even fell short of reaching its projected target audience.

According to reports, the NFT collection made $14.3 million in sales in September 2022, a month after its launch. However, by January 2023, the volume had dropped by more than 75% to just $3.5 million.

Mind you, this was at the time Mahomes was dominating the league as he led the NFL in passing yards by the end of the 2022 regular season. It was quite clear that the NFT model, even with the Kansas City superstar endorsing it, wasn't going to sustain itself in the NFL market.

According to reports, Dapper's collection value fell short by "millions of dollars," and even had to lay off staff due to the poor business prototype.