There is a very well-known media personality that talks about the “48 hour rule”. In today’s clickbait, headline-driven news environment, waiting at least 48 hours to process and respond to a big story usually brings more thought and facts to the conversation. That’s if truth and reputation matter to you.
About 96 hours ago, big news dropped regarding Major League Baseball and NFTs. CNN dedicated over 13 minutes of reporting to it.
This is not a Lucid Sight production anymore. Michael Rubin, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz partenered in a long-term, exclusive licensing deal with Major League Baseball. Candy will be the new NFT collectibles firm. Candy is reported to be majority owned by Rubin and Fanatics.
Amateur hour has ended. MLB saw that Top Shot money and was not going to make the same mistake twice. I have spent many of the past 96 hours learning as much as I can about these three men from afar. I obviously don’t know them and have never spoken to them. I’m a normal guy with a ghostly internet imprint and zero social media presence (bad for promoting this website/good for not giving a F@#3/good for my wife). Here is my take on this new group.
Michael Rubin: From selling skis out of his parents basement at the age of 14 to selling GSI Commerce to Ebay in a multi-billion dollar deal, Michael Rubin hustled his way to the American Dream. More importantly, he showed his heart and fight in the Meek Mill situation as he fought hard for his friend that was imprisoned by an unjust judge. He seems to have a sense for what is right and fair and worked to rewrite a wrong. He didn’t stop until he picked his friend up in a helicopter from prison per Meek’s dream request.
Rubin is co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils. He is executive chairman of Fanatics. They are valued at $12.8 billion. Their motto is “Officially Licensed Everything”.
Now, think of MLB NFTs and where the next iteration could go. Imagine the analytics and data available to Rubin and the people at Fanatics. Think Moneyball meets NFTs. 80+ million sport fans – their preferences and habits. That’s a huge asset and maybe the most important non-human variable that will set the next MLB NFTs up for success.
Gary Vaynerchuk: Watch GaryVee’s Web 2.0 speech from 2008
At 2 minutes and 19 seconds, GaryVee states something profound and exactly what was missing during the first iteration of the first MLB NFT. He says “Listening to your users…absolutely, but giving a shit about your users is way better.” Bringing on guys that listen and give a shit about their users is exactly what MLB should be doing in their second attempt at MLB NFTs.
I Know Gary is a big voice in the NFT community. I know he recently launched VEE Friends. I see his project in the Cryptoslam rankings every time I go to the website, but Wine Library TV Epsode 148 captures that energy and drive that I want on my side.
Mike Novogratz Novogratz’s resume reads like a Congressman – Army helicopter pilot, Princeton, Goldman Sachs, NY Fed Reserve Advisory Committe, Fortress Investment LLC, board member of NYU Medical Center, and CEO and founder of Galaxy Digital.
From my research, Novogratz describes Galaxy Digital as an entity that bridges the institutional investor and crypto. Galaxy has 1.6B assets under management and is a publicly traded company listed on the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) Ticker Symbol: GLXY.TO.
The self-described “oldest man in crypto” loves collecting BGS 9.5 Lebron refractors. That is prettty cool congressman.
I write this blog for anyone but mainly for the 20 or so first MLB NFT collectors that have lived through the Lucid Sight/MLB nightmare. I will always tell the unabashed truth. I don’t know what all this means for the first MLB NFT. This just went from the covered horse-drawn wagon to supersonic jet airplane – skipping the automobile. We may be perma-diamondhanding these NFTs for decades. I don’t know.
@ScalyNelson, we love you. It was great to hear you on the Firstmint Pod. The host is probably right. MLB Champions isn’t coming back -nor should it. The first MLB NFT is a collectible with a story. No one wants a Lucid Sight remix.
FirstMLBNFT.com will continue to tell the story no matter how many times MLB refuses to acknowledge that this NFT happened or how many times the big outlets get their reporting wrong. This embarrassing shitshow happened. We have the NFTs to prove it. Just acknowledge it.
Major League Baseball made a grown man move with these hires and alignments. Is it enough to get OG crypto loyalists back? Maybe, maybe not, but where they are going, they don’t need us.
Twitter @firstMLBnft
