Autograph, a fan engagement platform co-founded by NFL legend Tom Brady, has launched a new project – though this latest initiative lacks one of its earlier core features.
The new platform has been christened ‘Autograph: Sports Fandom’, designed to be ‘the most comprehensive and personalised fan experience in sports’. Unlike Autograph’s initial incarnation, this will focus on content distribution rather than an NFT platform.
Sports Fandom will incorporate blogs and social content, podcasts, and video material, functioning as a content aggregator sourcing its material from 3,800 creators, fan blogs, social channels, YouTube channels and podcasts.
Users select teams they want to follow and are subsequently provided with content from creators who specialise in these clubs and franchises. Fans will receive coins for the content they consume, which can be used for exclusive drops such as sports tickets, memorabilia, merchandise, and other fan experiences.
“At Autograph, it’s all about the fans for us,” Brady remarked. “We’re pulling together awesome content from top creators all in one place, so we can give fans an amazing experience and really show how much we appreciate everything they do.”
Autograph was first launched back in 2021 as an NFT platform where users could buy digital collectibles based around athletes and key sporting moments. The launch was assisted by DraftKings NFT marketplace, later branded as Reginmakers, where customers could buy, collect and trade sports-themed NFTs.
This came at a height of consumer interest in NFTs, interest which was shared by stakeholders in the sports and entertainment sector. Some NFTs, whether depicting sportspeople and moments or not, were being sold for hundreds of thousands if not millions during this time.
The NFT market has cooled off significantly, however. This began in 2022 and escalated massively last year, buoyed by a series of scandals around cryptocurrency such as the FTX collapse. This contributed to a drop in consumer confidence in crypto, and although NFTs are not themselves a crypto asset, the blockchain-backed products felt the impact of this.
Following this drop in the market, some firms and sporting stakeholders have begun to move away from NFTs. Though interest has not entirely died out – prominent organisations like FIFA still maintain NFT projects – it has definitely fallen from the heights of 2020 and 2021, with DraftKings shutting down the Reignmakers marketplace earlier this year.
Autograph has not commented on its refocusing on content over NFTs. Regardless of this change in direction, the platform seems to be enjoying ongoing success.
Autograph has detailed over one million articles read, 143,000 podcasts listened to, over 16.5 million coins collected and 270,000 offers redeemed since the beta launch of Sports Fandom, generated by sports fans spending over 211,000 total hours on the app.
Dillon Rosenblatt, CEO and Co-Founder of Autograph, said: “Autograph’s mission has always been to connect communities of fans more deeply with the teams, icons, and properties that they love.
“We’ve now evolved the platform to be able to engage even more fan communities in innovative ways. We’re powering daily sports content for fans, using our Passport feature to quantify and recognize fandom, and ultimately striving to leverage our technology to give more meaning and recognition to fans everywhere.”
