St. Petersburg-based sports technology startup Bloomberg-A non-fungible token (NFT) type of resource that provides analysis and market insights to a fast-growing community.
Now, Own the Moment blends an NFT analytics platform with a profitable and growing world of fantasy sports.
Vancouver-based Dapper Labs launched the NBA Top Shot in the summer of 2020 to help NFT become a popular name. Topshot NFTs are simply similar to digital trading cards with added utilities. Following approval and mainstream recognition by some of the biggest basketball stars, TopShop has pushed Dapper Labs to a $ 2.6 billion valuation in less than a year.
Dapper Labs is currently enjoying licensing and business relationships with the NBA, NFL, UFC and other professional leagues, and some of their top stars are also investors in the company. Justin Herzig, co-founder of Own the Moment (OTM), said he and his partner, TJ Laessig, built an analytics platform around the Dapper Labs NFT.
“Dapper Labs is one of our early investors,” says Herzig. “So we built it for people who want to be better and smarter collectors.”
Like the NBA Top Shot, OTM recently launched the NFL All Day NFT Marketplace. Users can track player NFT price movements, scrutinize analysis and insights, buy and sell NFTs among the OTM community, and track progress against other players and team sets. Herzig said it enables a seamless and educated experience.
Despite years of professional blockchain experience, Herzig said he was initially confused when the co-founder first heard about Top Shot. After that, the partners became critical and excited, and eventually became passionate about new concepts. Following that emotional process, Herzig said he realized there was a big gap in the market.
“I liked the idea of owning these digital collections, but there was no content there,” Herzig said. “No one talked about it or helped you cross the road.”
Herzig compared NFT spaces with fantasy sports. Herzig and Laessig are semi-professional fantasy athletes, both of whom won the prize pool with six numbers. Herzig noted the dominance of self-proclaimed professionals who provide online fantasy sports advice and analysis. Physical sports trading cards also enjoy the same level of guidance and support.
Herzig and Laessig have created a bi-weekly YouTube show to bring together the fast-growing sports NFT community and learn from each other. Herzig emphasized aspects of the OTM community and said that informing and educating users to create enjoyable experiences is part of the company’s DNA.
“Unfortunately, if you don’t make an educated purchase and you’re not confident and confident in your decision, you’ll probably have a poor experience,” he said.
Herzig said their ideas snowballed from there, and the duo added a podcast and launched the OTM analytics website in January 2021. This website helps users achieve the best time to buy or sell their collections.
The OTM platform provides analysis and information about sports NFTs.
Herzig used Tom Brady as an example. If a company creates a Brady NFT, only 25% of the collection can be released at one time. The basic supply and demand principle is that when the remaining 75% is available, the value of the NFT will decline.
While Herzig called its analytics platform bread and butter, OTM launched the NFT-centric fantasy game The Owner’s Club (TOC) last August. TOC allows collectors to use professional athlete NFTs in fantasy sports games.
“Last year’s football season we won over $ 1.5 million in prize money,” said Herzig.
Herzig explained that users will buy a collection of position players for teams such as the Buccaneers wide receiver group. This will help compensate for star player injuries that occur throughout the season. Players buy packs, receive NFTs, and use them in free contests to win prizes.
Herzig said about 2,000 people registered for the TOC’s inauguration season, but OTM only cast the Buccane wide receiver 310NFT. He said it creates a rarity that drives the value of the collections, and players are free to buy, sell, and exchange them for fellow league members during the fantasy football season.
OTM invited all the weekly winners of the season to Miami for the January Live Season Finale. Held at the FTX Arena, home of the NBA’s Miami Heat, 16 players competed for the grand prize. For those who might have been lucky enough to reach the finale in a week, the event featured side games such as a lowball contest. It awarded the prize for the lowest score.
“All of these contests were free and we were able to choose a strategy,” Herzig said. “Overall, it was great, and the community really loved it.”
Herzig envisions OTM and TOC as the future of Web3 fantasy sports. He and Laessig’s model was a proof of concept and he said he is currently bowing to improve the experience.
Herzig acknowledged that the experience of cryptocurrencies and onboarding to NFTs is challenging for some, and there are still complex issues to build on the blockchain for consumers.
“So we’re trying to make it as easy as possible,” he said. “Like signing up for a new Google account.”
According to Herzig, OTM attracts more than 50,000 active users a month and plans to offer more games this summer in anticipation of the football season. There are also plans for a fantasy league that covers the NBA and other sports.
