Tennis Australia is expanding its NFT ball art offering for this year's Australian Open, and says it will participate long-term despite uncertainty in the crypto market.
Last year, at the peak of all the hype around cryptocurrencies, Open launched its 'AO Art Ball' collection, with 6,776 pieces of ball artwork linked to 19cm x 19cm sections on the courts at Melbourne Park. It was sold as a possible token (NFT).
An additional 2,454 NFTs will be offered this year.
A non-fungible token is a crypto asset that gives ownership of a digital item, in this case the unique artwork of an Australian Open tennis ball.
Tennis Australia promised at launch to update the metadata of individual NFTs whenever a winning shot during a match lands in the plot assigned to that NFT. He also said there will be merchandise and other perks for those who own NFTs.
The ball was priced at 0.067 in the Ethereum cryptocurrency (approximately AU$278 as of minting on January 22, 2022) and all NFTs were sold.
Ethereum's value has since fallen, and 0.067ETH is currently worth just $130. On the OpenSea Market, where the AO Art Ball Collection is held, the lowest price is 0.092ETH, which is higher than the original price, but still represents a loss of about $100 from a year ago for those selling the balls.
Ridley Plummer, Tennis Australia's senior manager of metaverse, NFTs, Web3 and cryptocurrencies said the organization was not focused on short-term market fluctuations.
“Just because the market is having challenges doesn't mean you should just put down your tools and walk away,” he said. “When you explore new technologies like Web3 and NFTs, there are obviously a lot of external factors that come into play, and when you're an innovative company like Tennis Australia and AO, there are obviously challenges and associated rewards. Good.
Unlike NFTs, which focus solely on investments, the Art Ball program is being promoted as a type of membership to the Australian Open. Tennis Australia has a Discord server for members to help people learn how to get involved in NFTs, including ground passes for finals week, access to selected United Cup matches and access to behind-the-scenes sites. We operate a reward program for NFT owners. Video of scenes not included in Grand Slam broadcasts.
Plummer said about 2,000 NFT holders responded by offering tickets to the opening.
He said ownership of NFTs will be considered similar to gold or silver frequent flyer membership, and those who purchase NFTs in both 2022 and 2023 will be equivalent to executive frequent flyer membership.
“They will be able to access the benefits sooner and better than anyone else,” he says.
The 2023 AO Artballs will be minted on Thursday at 7am AEDT, starting at 0.23 ETH (approximately $446) each.
