After months of planning, MLB on Tuesday is expected to announce a deal with Candy Digital to create and sell NFTs, the digital assets that have led to speculative frenzies in the sports and art worlds. Among those running Candy: Fanatics apparel founder and Philadelphia 76ers partner Michael Rubin, cryptocurrency investor Mike Novogratz and Gary Vaynerchuk, the entrepreneur and marketer who also owns a sports-representation agency.
While MLB offers a series of trading-card-style NFTs from Topps, the deal with Candy is expected to include a far broader suite of products.
The first release, on July 4, will be of Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech delivered that day 82 years earlier and will be minted just once. Other digital assets, from artistic renderings to tokens for in-person experiences, are expected to roll out on the Ethereum blockchain in the fall and be sold or auctioned on Candy’s platform.