A Dapper Downer ๐
Featuring A Tough NBA Public Relations Week, Dapper Labs Layoffs, Unique Sorare Competitions, New Marketplace Fees & More
Good Morning, B&B Squad! Hope you had an excellent week, and cheers to the weekend!
It has been a rough week for the NBA public relations teamโฆ Following up the Kyrie Irving suspension and Ime Udoka hiring saga early in the week was troubling news about former San Antonio Spurs lottery pick Josh Primo.
After being abruptly released by the team last week, news broke that Primo was being sued by the Spursโ former clinical psychologist, who claims that Primo exposed himself on numerous occasions. In addition to troubling details regarding the teamโs alleged handling of the incidents, this apparently isnโt the only case โ with two other women also accusing Primo of similar acts. Ugly, ugly stuff.
On a happier note, here is a new Victor Wembanyama highlight to cheer things up. Remember, this man is 7โ4:
Letโs get into all the action from the past few days:
A Dapper Downer ๐ข
We got some sad/concerning news out of Dapper Labs this week, with CEO Roham Gharegozlou announcing that the company was laying off 22% of staff via the Dapper newsroom blog.
โAs part of a broader refocus of our strategy and reorganization of our teams to better serve our communities, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our team size by 22%โฆ
These reductions are the last thing we want to do, but they are necessary for the long-term health of our business and communities. We know web3 and crypto is the future across a multitude of industries โโ with 1000x potential from here in terms of mainstream adoption and impact โโโ but todayโs macroeconomic environment means we arenโt in full control of the timing.ย
There isnโt a take I can provide other than this is super unfortunate for everyone. I feel for those within the company who were blindsided by the news โ and in a small, close-knit community, itโs even more difficult to see people you know or interact with experience it.
In terms of what it means for NBA Top Shotโฆ
While it certainly isnโt a bullish move, I do think this is more of a macro response for a large tech company then an indictment on how management is feeling about the product. And Dapper Labs is certainly not alone, with other major companies also experiencing layoffs in recent weeks.
BUTโฆ With less employees comes (theoretically) less of an ability to ship products. And given the current sentiment on the platform, seeing this type of layoff certainly doesnโt inspire confidence.
Speaking of (third-parties) shipping products, it looks like we could have a nifty trade portal for swapping moments and other FLOW NFTs coming this month, via Evaluate Market:
So Scarce ๐
Sorare NBA made some notable announcements on Friday, including the launch of competitions in the Unique (1/1) tier.
Managers will need at least three Uniques and (two Super Rares), so fielding a lineup is going to cost you a pretty penny.
Sorare is ramping up the Unique actions this weekend to get some supply ready for game-action, with several big stars getting the 1/1 treatment:
There havenโt been many Uniques auctioned yet, so it will be extremely interesting to watch what the top-tier cards for stars like Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler go for this weekend. Here is the full list of Unique auction results as of Friday, via SorareData (prices in ETH, which is currently at $1,650 USD):
Honestly, after playing a few of the various rarity tier competitions over the last few weeks, the structure Sorare has built is great at giving managers options to play at whatever spending level they are comfortable, whether that is completely free (common), or the whales of the world (Unique).
A second announcement from the platform regarding marketplace fees was also released on Friday:
While there is no indication that this is coming (and pure speculation)โฆ Maybe implementing marketplace fees is a step/factor in bringing some sort of ETH rewards? The consensus seems to be that US regulations for the MLB and NBA products restrict that, but to my knowledge weโve never gotten any clarification from Sorare.
So for now, we speculate!
Around The First Mint ๐ฃ
๐ง How Nike Plans to Double Revenue with NFTs
In December 2021, Nike shocked the web3 world when it purchased 2-year old design studio RTFKT. But upon closer inspection, the move makes total sense for both companies as consumers and sneakers hurtle towards the metaverse at an alarming speed. On today's show, we'll look at WHY Nike buys certain companies, and how RTFKT positioned itself to be one of them.
๐ง Why the Chicago Bulls are winning at NFTs (Feat. Luka Dukich)
๐ง Steph Curryโs Multi-Billion Dollar Future in Crypto
Thanks for reading!
Followย Zachย on Twitter atย @GhostOfGregOden.๏ปฟ
**This is not financial advice. Nothing in this newsletter, podcast, or publication should be considered financial or trading advice of any kind. Please do your own thorough research and make your own trading decisions. This is not advice.โ
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