Increasingly athletes are seeing that they can profit from their digital identity above and beyond their contracts with teams. The rights to one’s Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) in the virtual world is possible through the issuance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) an innovation made possible, initially, through developments on the Ethereum platform. More recently alternative platforms for generating NFTs on a more cost-effective basis, like Polygon, have emerged. And even more recently innovations in the Cardano blockchain, with its secure devops philosophy and active developer community, have led to numerous innovations for both self-sovereign identity and non-fungible token minting and trading.
Professional athletes have the most to gain by taking advantage of these Web3 innovations. But, now, even college-age athletes are eligible to capitalize on their NIL due to a recent ruling by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Now collegiate athletes can join with others in the Sports-ISAO to follow trends and attend informative webinars on how to set-up NFTs for protecting NIL digital assets. More details on the benefits to athletic departments are given below.