NBA Top Shot Reaches $1B in Sales Amid NFT Market Downturn

NBA Top Shot eclipsed $1 billion in sales Friday, a landmark that comes amid a major dip in crypto assets over the last month. 

Dapper Labs launched the NBA-focused NFT to a few select testers nearly two years ago, allowing fans to purchase highlights — called Moments — via packs or individually on the Flow blockchain created by the company. NBA Top Shot rolled the marketplace out to the masses in October 2020.

Since the start of May, the overall digital asset market has seen daily transactions and the average sale price crater more than 90%, according to CyrptoSlam. Top Shot has fared better, although sales activity has plateaued in recent months. 

Since the success of Top Shot, Dapper Labs has secured deals with the NFL and UFC among other leagues, and executives are hardly panicking over the recent downturn.

“You know, this isn’t a backyard project for any of us,” Jayne Peressini, Dapper Labs’ VP of Growth, told Front Office Sports.

“There are a few strategies that you can have to make sure that you have a healthy marketplace. One of the key things that you have to manage is just being super in sync … so that as demand is rising, you have the content and supply available.”

To date, 13 Top Shots have sold for more than $100,000 in the marketplace with nine of those coming in Moments of Lakers star LeBron James. 

None of those purchases were made in 2022; the most-expensive moment bought this year was a James Moment that went for $65,000 in January. 

Peressini touted the real-world benefits of purchasing Top Shot Moments, like a meetup with the top 15 collectors in the Bay Area that included a suite at a recent Golden State Warriors game with an appearance from former star Chris Mullin. 

“That’s an example of real-life utility and that’s what we’re creating,” said Peressini, a former EA Sports exec.