Athletes who know how to sell an NFT are already making millions of dollars (and it’s only going to increase from here).
It doesn’t matter if you’re a high school, college, or pro athlete you can monetize your personal brand through NFT’s.
I’m assuming most of you are already familiar with what an NFT is, but for those of you that are new (or need a refresher) check out this article before going any further.
Article: What are NFT’s and Their Impact on Sports
Keep in mind, how valuable your personal brand will determine the amount of profit you can make. Giannis Antetokounmpo will have more leverage with an NFT compared to a Division 3 tennis player.
With that said, athletes are highly sought after at all ages and NFT’s further enable access to the athlete.
Think of NFT’s like a digital ticket that helps an athlete monetize their time through live experiences.
An example is Giannis Antetokounmpo selling two NFT’s that include meeting him after the game and a signed jersey.
How to Create and Sell Your Own NFT’s
This is a step-by-step instruction manual you can follow to get everything set up in 5 minutes or less.
All of this is possible on your phone..but doing it on a computer is easier.
1. Visit Coinbase.com
Sign up for an account on Coinbase.com
Get $10 in free Bitcoin when signing up with this link: https://www.coinbase.com/join/X3JT8M
Make sure to jot down your secret keys in a safe location as you’ll need them to verify your account and keep it secure.
2. Create a MetaMask Wallet
This is where you’ll be able to store your cryptos and NFT collectibles.
You can set up your wallet here: https://metamask.io/
MetMask will then walk you through downloading it on your browser.
Hit create a new wallet and as you’re setting it up make sure to keep your secret keys in a safe location just like you did on Coinbase.
Now that your accounts are all set up – let’s set up the infrastructure for creating an NFT.
3. Buy Ethereum ($ETH) on Coinbase
Click the buy/sell button on Coinbase to purchase Ethereum.
Nearly all the NFT marketplaces run on the Ethereum blockchain which is why you want to purchase this coin.
Purchase however much or little you want – you may have to buy some more later on.
4. Copy Your MetaMask Wallet ID
None of this is rocket science but stick with me here.
Cryptocurrencies are meant to be secure and transparent, which is why every wallet has a unique address.
Switch back to MetaMask and copy your wallets address.
5. Send Your Ethereum to MetaMask
Now that you have some Ethereum you need to send it to your MetaMask wallet.
To do this click the send/receive button in the top right corner of Coinbase.👇
After clicking the send/receive button you’ll be shown this screen on Coinbase.
- Choose how much you want to send to your wallet
- Paste in the MetaMask wallet ID from Step 4
- Make sure to select pay with Ethereum
- Hit Continue and then Send Now after confirming
It will take 1-2 minutes for the Ethereum to show up in your MetaMask wallet.
Now that you have everything set up – the real fun begins.
There are a ton of NFT marketplaces, so before we get to Step 6, I want to showcase a few of the options (and ones coming in the future).
OpenSea
This is the largest and most known marketplace. I’ll be showing you how to sell your NFT’s on here, but there are better options coming soon.
Beasy
I believe this company will have the most impact in the sports metaverse as they’re a platform enabling athletes to create, mint, and sell their own NFT’s right from their own Shopify storefront.
It also automatically post the NFT to an array of different marketplaces so you’re not limited in options.
You even have the ability to reward contributors to your NFT such as a charity, agent, or family member.
They recently signed a deal with Tykes to help athletes and universities monetize their own digital collectibles.
Legacy League
They are creating an automated NFT platform and marketplace – specifically for college athletes.
Invaluable
One of the main problems with minting NFT’s is the high gas fees – making it unreasonable for many publishers.
Set up through the Polygon blockchain, Invaluable is significantly reducing the gas fees for creators in their NFT marketplace debuting at the end of 2021.
6. Go to Opensea.io
You’re so close to minting your own NFT!
Visit Opensea.io which is the largest and most well-known NFT marketplace.
Hit create – which will then redirect you to sign in with your MetaMask wallet.
After signing in, you’ll be redirected to the upload page.
7. Upload Your NFT
Maybe your NFT is a highlight clip, GIF, or piece of digital artwork.
Any of these options will work.
I mentioned earlier, that Beasy and Tykes signed a deal to help athletes and universities mint their own NFT’s.
Here’s an example NFT that Anthony Edwards might have sold while playing at Georgia.
8. Create your NFT
The final steps are here! All you need to do is fill in a few details and you’ll be on your way to selling your first NFT.
- Upload Your NFT
- Give it a Name
- Connect it to a link (ex. Beasy storefront)
- Write a description
- Add properties, levels, stats (optional)
- Put in unlockable content (ex. signed jersey)
- Supply (how many you are selling)
- Select Ethereum as the blockchain
- Hit create
Now we have to upload it on the marketplace so it can be sold.
9. Sell Your NFT
Hit sell in the top right corner of Opensea.
Set your price and hit complete listing.
10. Mint Your NFT
We are now at the final step.
A lot of creators get to this point and stop because of the high gas fees associated with minting a NFT (the problem Invaluable’s marketplace is trying to solve).
Although gas fees are annoying, they are necessary to prevent creators from spamming a bunch of NFT’s, because there is a fee associated with selling them.
Think of it like a necessary barrier to entry.
- Your MetaMask wallet will automatically be connected
- Approve this item for sale based on the gas fee
- Confirm the price you’re selling it for
- Hit Confirm on the MetaMask Wallet extension
YOU DID IT! Congrats on creating, minting, and listing your first NFT.
What a journey it’s been.
You’ll be notified once your NFT is sold and the profit will be distributed in to your account.
Every time your NFT is resold on the secondary market you’ll make a % of the profit as well.
Talk about passive income and the power of Web 3.0.
Do you see the power of this new world!?
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