Tom Brady's NFT platform partners with DraftKings and Lionsgate to offer sports and entertainment-themed digital collectibles

• Tom Brady's NFT platform, Autograph, is partnering with DraftKings and Lionsgate to offer thematic digital collectibles.
  
• The platform will launch this summer.
• Autograph is launching exclusive deals with Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, and Naomi Osaka, among others.

Autograph, the NFT platform co-founded by NFL quarterback Tom Brady, announced Tuesday that it is partnering with fantasy sports website DraftKings and entertainment firm Lionsgate to offer sports and entertainment-themed digital collectibles.

The platform will officially launch its NFTs this summer.

Sports-related content will be sold exclusively on DraftKings Marketplace, which will be available to users with existing DraftKings account. Once launched, millions will be able to seamlessly buy, sell, and trade digital collectibles.

Entertainment-related content, meanwhile, will be available in Lionsgate, Autograph's entertainment vertical. The first wave of content will focus on franchises including the Hunger Games, Rambo IV & V, Dirty Dancing, Blair Witch, Mad Men, John Wick, The Divergent Series, The Expendables, and The Twilight Saga.

Los Angeles-based Autograph is also launching exclusive deals with Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Derek Jeter, Naomi Osaka, and Tony Hawk who will all be joining the company's advisory board.

NFTs are digital representations of any form of artwork tied to a blockchain, typically on ethereum. Each NFT has a signature that can be verified in the public ledger and cannot be duplicated or edited.

When people buy NFTs, they gain the rights to the unique token on the blockchain, not the artworks themselves. But the fact that the information on a blockchain is next to impossible to alter makes NFTs appealing.

"We are honored to partner with these powerful icons and marquee businesses, DraftKings and Lionsgate," said Richard Rosenblatt, co-founder and co-chairman of Autograph. "As the nascent NFT market continues to develop, we are fortunate to enlist these leading partners with additional luminaries to be announced in the near future."

Apart from Brady, other celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan and Katy Perry have launched their own tokens, as well as prominent figures including Twitter's Jack Dorsey.

NFTs have soared in popularity this year. Sales volume of tokens reached $2.5 billion in the first half of 2021, according to analytics firm DappRadar.