Ahead of the beginning of Season XVIII of the World Poker Tour, the organization is launching its dedicated non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace in collaboration with Theta Labs.
NFTs Arrive at World Poker Tour
Decentralized video delivery network Theta Labs and World Poker Tour (WPT) have teamed up with developing the first real-time NFT marketplace as part of an exclusive partnership ahead of the Season XVIII of the World Poker Tour.
The event begins on Sunday, April 18, and will air on Bally Sports Networks nationwide. With 140 million viewers from across North America and Europe, this is a golden opportunity for Theta and WPT to tap into a dormant market that may be prepared to spend money on digital assets.
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs have had tremendous success attracting investment from athletes, entertainers, and companies looking to capitalize on the trend.
Moving forward, the in-show advertisement and promotional segments will now direct WPT spectators to the NFT marketplace, inviting anyone interested to purchase WPT packs for a limited time as well as partake in an auction for a legendary poker moment.
There have been two ways of managing NFT marketplaces so far. One has been to run high-value assets in auctions and try to fetch the biggest value, and the other has been a “limited” ownership of a digital asset.
Get Your Legendary and Rare NFTs Now
WPT seems to be going down the road of both, creating additional revenue streams for the organization and resonating with a technologically savvy audience. The first token to be auctioned will be the “Mike Sexton: The Legend Hand” as a tribute to the late Mike Sexton, who passed away in September 2020.
There will be a total of three tokens to be auctioned off. In addition, the organization will run a limited quality base set, rare and legendary themed poker packs to get players started. Commenting on the latest developments, World Poker Tour Adam Pliska welcomed the news and further explained:
“Our exclusive NFT launch with Theta Network is one of our biggest digital initiatives to date, and for the first time ever, we’re combining our global reach of live televised poker with an NFT marketplace, giving our fans an interactive, real-time opportunity to collect a piece of the WPT poker action.”
Pliska added that the organization is thrilled to bring some of the best-known players and celebrities from the WPT to the world of digital assets with rare and legendary options for consumers to choose from.
The choice of partner in Theta Labs has also been welcomed as the company, which runs the Theta Network, has developed its NFT platforms to specifically fit the media and entertainment businesses. Joining in the conversation, Theta Labs co-founder and CEO Mitch Liu shared his company’s excitement and joined the conversation arguing that Theta was looking forward to creating a next-generation NFT marketplace with WPT.
“ThetaDrop maximizes earnings to brand partners and creators by bringing the interactivity, real-time engagement, and personality possible only through a livestream when doing NFT drops and auctions,” explained delving into the specifics.