Editor’s note: This story was updated Sept. 29 following the official announcement.

The NFL initially held back on the NFT craze, but now the league is ready to make its move.

Dapper Labs, the NFL and NFLPA announced it would create an NFT marketplace, according to a news release on Wednesday. The venture — which will be along the same lines as Dapper’s hit NBA Top Shot — is scheduled to launch by season’s end.

• Dapper Labs will become the NFLPA’s second largest licensing partner behind EA Sports, which produces the “Madden” game series. Exact terms were not disclosed.
• Both the NFL and NFLPA will take an equity stake in Dapper Labs.
• Dapper Labs was valued at $7.6 billion last week on a $250 million fundraise, led by Coatue and joined by Google’s GV and Andreesen Horowitz.
• Sales on NBA Top Shot totaled over $700 million from October 2020 through May, but have dropped dramatically, and now sit around $700,000 over the last 30 days.

The NFL had previously barred teams from pursuing sponsorship deals with NFT and blockchain-focused companies.

Sports Business Journal was the first outlet to report the deal on Tuesday.

The exclusive partnership will have Dapper produce blockchain-backed moments and digital cards of NFL highlights, stars, and legends.

Caty Tedman, head of partnerships at Dapper Labs, told FOS in March that the company had “talked to a lot of other major leagues” about developing products similar to NBA Top Shot. 

Dapper Labs announced a similar deal with La Liga last week, and with the WNBA in August. 

Three top European soccer teams are still holding onto the Super League concept — and a Spanish court just provided them some breathing room.

UEFA, Europe’s governing soccer body, is nullifying its disciplinary actions against the 12 teams that sought to form the breakaway league, including three who have not disavowed the project: Juventus, Barcelona, and Real Madrid.

The disciplinary proceedings against those clubs “have been declared null and void, without any prejudice, as if the proceedings had never been opened,” UEFA wrote. In doing so, UEFA bowed to a ruling in a lawsuit initially brought by all 12 breakaway clubs in April.

• Those three clubs had faced a potential two-year ban from the UEFA Champions League, in which participating teams split $2.34 billion.
• The UEFA is also canceling the penalties it levied against the nine other Super League teams, which included 5% of their European soccer revenues for one year and a combined $17.5 million donation to support youth soccer.
• UEFA said that by nullifying the proceedings, it left the door open to new disciplinary action down the road.

The legal proceedings may have deeper consequences for UEFA: The Spanish court referred the matter to the European Court of Justice to determine whether UEFA can act as a regulator of European soccer clubs while also profiting from the Champions League, Europa League, and other competitions that it oversees.

Activision Blizzard settled with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Monday following allegations of gender-based harassment, agreeing to pay $18 million.

The video game publishing giant has been investigated by the EEOC since 2018, and the company “failed to take corrective and preventative measures,” according to the complaint. 

As part of the settlement, Activision agreed to an outside monitor who will regularly report on the workplace, and will create an initiative with workforce training programs.

It’s not the only legal battle the “Call of Duty” publisher has recently faced.

• The SEC subpoenaed the company and a number of its executives for how it handled allegations of workplace discrimination and sexual misconduct.
• Activision is being sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing for allegations that the company is paying women less than men. After the company denied the claims and employees planned walkouts, president J. Allen Brack stepped down.
• The Communications Workers of America filed with the National Labor Relations Board claiming worker intimidation at the company, including coercive tactics.

The accusations have resulted in lost sponsor relationships — T-Mobile reportedly pulled out as a sponsor of the Overwatch and Call of Duty Leagues.

Despite the ongoing allegations, Activision’s revenue grew 18.8% year-over-year to $2.3 billion in its second quarter, and net income increased 51% year-over-year to $876 million.