Sports and NFTs are a natural fit and Gary Vee’s team knows what they’re doing. Today they’ve announced a partnership with the US Open to launch a new NFT project.
August 30, 2021 – The USTA today announced that the 2021 US Open will feature the tournament’s first-ever NFT (non-fungible token) collection, available at nft.usopen.org. Multiple levels of the digital collectibles will be available to fans to commemorate their experience with the 2021 US Open, from innovative ‘virtual ticket stubs’ to super-rare ‘Golden Ace’ tokens offering once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
“Enabling fans worldwide to engage with the US Open in the NFT space is an exciting step, because it offers a number of accessible, modern and in some cases extraordinary ways to interact with the event and its champions in an increasingly popular digital realm,” said Kirsten Corio, Managing Director, Ticketing and Digital Strategy, USTA.
About the US Open NFTs
The levels of NFTs available for the 2021 US Open will be as follows:
- An unlimited amount of tokens featuring key US Open artwork will be available to fans worldwide, but can only be purchased during the main draw, from August 30-September 12. Another level of token will be available exclusively to in-person attendees of the 2021 US Open – a creative ‘virtual ticket stub’ – claimable for free on USOpen.org the day following their attendance.
- An exclusive level of ‘Champion’ tokens will be limited in quantity and will feature trading cards of legendary US Open champions: Billie Jean King, Andy Roddick, Stan Smith, Venus Williams and Bob and Mike Bryan. For each of those Champions, only 20 numbered ‘Legendary’ trading cards and one ‘Golden Ace’ card will be available for bid with both U.S. dollars and Ethereum.
- The highest-level ‘Golden Ace’ card, limited to one per Champion, will come with several once-in-a-lifetime experiences for its winning bidder, such as: an opportunity to play tennis inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, a meet-and-greet with a tennis star at the US Open, their name engraved on the US Open grounds, courtside tickets to the 2022 US Open men’s or women’s singles championship, autographed memorabilia and a limited-edition US Open merchandise pack.
The USTA collaborated with VaynerNFT on the concept and creation of the 2021 US Open NFT collection.
The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level — from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 655,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, one of the highest-attended annual sporting events in the world, and launched the US Open Series, linking nine summer WTA and ATP World Tour tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships in addition to supporting tennis and education programs nationwide to benefit under-resourced youth through the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. For more information about the USTA, go to USTA.com or follow the official accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Pat Mitsch, USTA Communications; Mitsch@usta.com; 914-656-9021
Lara Taki, VAYNERNFT; lara@digitalandsavvy.com; (310) 999 9974