GM DOers! 🚀
Headline of the year: EA Sports will add Nike NFTs to its games. 🤯
The sportswear titan that has been ruling the physical world is about to do a power dunk in the digital realm too. 🏀
Nike stepped 👟 into the web3 world in late 2021 by purchasing NFT Sneaker Studio RTFKT, and has since made almost $200 Million with NFTs. 💸
Last year, in the fall of 2022, Nike announced the launch of .Swoosh. Their web3 platform whose goal is to be a destination for virtual apparel and other NFT-based products.
Last week, Nike's .Swoosh announced a power-packed partnership with EA Sports, the masterminds behind fan-favorite sports video games like FIFA ⚽, Madden 🏈, and NBA Live 🏀.
We'll just say it – this is colossal! 🔥
Nike wants to ensure they become the most iconic brand in the digital space, and they’re starting by onboarding EA Sports into this space. 🌊
Why is this important to you? And is Nike’s main competitor, Adidas, going to catch up? 👀
I’ll tell you all about that in a second… But first, a short introduction on .Swoosh (skip it if you already are caught up, especially you Candy 😂)
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What Is .Swoosh? ✔️
For those who aren’t familiar, let’s take a trip down the digital memory lane of Nike's .Swoosh.
The .Swoosh Launch
The .Swoosh platform, launched in November 2022, was designed to become the epicenter for Nike's digital pursuits in the web3 space and provide a space for customers to become co-creators. 🤜🤛
To power the .Swoosh platform, Nike launched the .Swoosh ID, “your passport to the .Swoosh experience.” 🪪
To grab your ID, you need to actively participate in the .Swoosh ecosystem to get a hold of a code that’s being sent occasionally by the team (it’s now on hold).
Once you had this code, you could mint your ID (on Polygon) on .Swoosh’s website (keep in mind that these were only available in certain parts of the world, mainly the US).
As of today, there are a whopping 365,564 .Swoosh IDs minted! 🤯
The .Swoosh Our Force 1 Posters
In April 2023, the .Swoosh team decided to airdrop 106,453 free OF1 posters to random .Swoosh ID holders. 🎈
These posters were working as a ticket to .Swoosh’s launch of Our Force 1 Boxes (which I’ll talk about in a sec).
Out of the ~100k posters, 22,590 were redeemed (21%).
These were later used to claim an OF1 Box 👇
The .Swoosh Our Force 1 Boxes
The Our Force 1 (OF1) Collection is a series of virtual Nike creations. Initially, the collection was introduced when .Swoosh held a competition called Your Force 1, where .Swoosh ID holders had the opportunity to design Air Force shoes.
Now, the OF1 boxes include co-created AF1s. 🔥
The boxes came in 2 forms: Classic Remix and New Wave.
The Classic Remix box was a nod to the past, featuring AF1 designs inspired by collections from 1982 to 2006.
The New Wave box, on the other hand, pushed the boundaries, featuring next-gen AF1s that drew inspiration from 2007 and onwards.
After securing an OF1 Box, members can reveal their unique AF1 style and explore the gallery to see the full collection, owner details, and more.
The mint of an OF1 box occurred in dynamic phases, with early members getting the first dibs, and the sale wrapped up just last week.
The figures speak for themselves. A total of 97,628 boxes were minted, by 52,970 unique addresses, leading to a near $2 Million windfall for .Swoosh.
Here's an intriguing bit of data: Out of roughly 365k .Swoosh ID holders, around 53k made the leap to mint an OF1 box.
Most of them minted just 1 box (55%) while 25.5% minted 2, with 19.5% minting 2+ OF1 boxes.
Keep in mind that these aren’t unique individuals as there are people who have multiple IDs and OF1 Boxes.
Still, that's a 15% conversion rate, indicating the proportion of users who moved from a free service (holding a .Swoosh ID) to a paid one (minting an OF1 box).
This level of user engagement and monetization is a marketer’s DREAM. 🚀
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In a way, that’s what we’ve done above, looking at .Swoosh onchain metrics.
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Why This Matters 🤔
1. More Collaborations Coming Soon!
With its dominant strides in the digital world, Nike’s DMs are surely swamped with requests for more collaborations.
We're willing to bet they have a bunch of exciting projects in the pipeline, and the EA Sports partnership is just the starting whistle.
You can expect more brands to join the game soon, adding to the energy and innovation in the web3 space.
2. Digital Revolution Attracts More Brands
You know how the cycles go: Slowly, then all at once!
Nike's foray into the NFT and web3 space is sure to encourage other big-name brands to explore the endless opportunities this technology has to offer.
Companies will start thinking about how to leverage NFTs and other web3 tools to digitize their assets, secure IP rights early, and pave their way into the digital realm.
This is the dawn of a new era, and brands would be smart to lace up and join the race.
Question: Do you think this Nike x EA partnership will onboard more mainstream brands to web3?
Reply to this email with a Yes/No!
3. Interoperability Is The Name Of The Game
What makes this Nike and EA Sports partnership incredibly exciting is the potential for interoperability.
With the integration of NFTs into EA Sports games, in-game assets could potentially be exchanged between different games within the EA Sports universe.
Here’s a visual made by our good friend Tpan showing how this looks for Nike…
… and how this partnership looks for EA Sports:
To visualize this even further, imagine having a pair of virtual Nike kicks that you could use in FIFA, Madden, and NBA Live. Cool, right?
While this isn't confirmed yet, the opportunities for such cross-platform experiences certainly exist thanks to web3 tech.
And it’s an opportunity we believe every web2 brand (especially apparel brands) should capitalize on because it’s a feature that’s unique and only possible with web3 tech. 💪
Now… One last thing to mention: competition! What’s the state of Nike’s rivalry against other competitors (mainly Adidas)?
Let’s explore. Keep scrolling 👇
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The Battle Between Nike and Adidas for Digital Market Share
Nike’s been at the forefront of web3 adoption, having earned more than all other web2 brands together.
Nike’s $186M revenue is ~17x that of Adidas’, who got into web3 around the same time as Nike back when they bought an Adidas BAYC.
If you want a timeline on Adidas’ journey in web3, check that out in our recent PRO Report here.
Clearly, Nike’s ahead. They’ve acquired RTFKT (which had big success with their CloneX NFT collection) and have done a very successful launch of their OF1s.
Furthermore, just hours after the OF1 sale, they announced this big partnership with EA Sports.
Nike’s SHIPPING in web3 right now, and Adidas is kind of lacking behind (although they’ve done some cool stuff too).
If you think there’s another brand that’ll take the lead, reply to this email and let us know who you think that is!
Nike's web3 success story is a prime example of how crucial the first-mover advantage can be. But it's important to remember: we're still in the early innings.
The $186M revenue Nike bagged from web3 is a mere 0.4% of their total revenue from 2022 ($46.71B). This is just the tip of the iceberg, with an ocean of opportunities in web3 still left to explore. 🧊
The spotlight on web3 from industry titans like Nike and Adidas is only going to get brighter. Other brands are watching closely, ready to take the plunge.
This is why we're bullish AF about what's to come. In the world of web3, it’s all about network effects. 🚀
And the way Metcalfe’s Law explains it is that adoption tends to happen slowly at first, and then all at once, growing exponentially.
Right now, Nike and Adidas are merely testing the waters of web3. But as they dive in head-first, you can expect to see a tidal wave of web2 brands rushing in so they won't get left behind. 🌊
This creates a powerful momentum, a positive flywheel that, once set in motion, continues to spin, driving growth and adoption in the web3 space. 🛞
This represents a huge milestone for web3! It sets the industry on the map and everyone will start paying more attention.
I won’t be surprised if a bunch of web2 brands announce their web3 plans in the next 6 months. And they should!
Adopting this tech, this early will bring them very valuable first-mover-advantage, from which they’ll benefit big time!
It’s time for all web2 brands to act and capitalize on the opportunity of web3! Nike already has a head start and made around $200M.
Others should (and will) follow soon! But until next time, we’ll keep monitoring the space closely to ensure you’re kept at the forefront! ✌️
Thanks for reading, frens, and we’ll see you very soon ❤️
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and not financial advice. Conduct your own research and consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions or taking any action based on the content.
