Pro Weekly Update (3/18/2022) - Front Office Sports

March 18, 2022

Happy Friday!

Insights is back this week with an updated Deal Tracker and Heat Check on the M&A activity in the NFT space. We break down the key insights and takeaways as they relate to the NFT market, how IP rights are treated for various projects, and what consolidation could mean for the market. If you have any comments, please reach out to me at liam@fos.company.

Mergers and Acquisitions in the NFT Market

Design: Alex Brooks

Blockbuster M&A in the NFT Market

On March 11, it was announced that Yuga Labs, the creators of the famed NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club, would acquire the second most traded (by volume) NFT project of all time — Cryptopunks.

The deal represents one of the largest M&A transactions in crypto to date and places Yuga Labs at the forefront of the race to create original intellectual property (“IP”) in the NFT space.

While transaction details were not disclosed, the combined sales of Bored Apes, Cryptopunks, and Meetbits (the other project acquired in the deal) have accounted for ~$4 billion in sales.

The transaction not only marks an important consolidation but also a shift toward distributed IP. Yuga Labs announced that it would immediately be distributing commercial rights of the Cryptopunks and Meetbits to their holders — something that had long been a point of contention.

Yuga Labs has been rumored to be in fundraising talks over the past several months but has not made any official announcements. The rumors, however, indicate that the valuation could be as high as $5 billion.

The NFT Market has Cooled Considerably

The news is not all good for the NFT market. Daily trading volumes on OpenSea — the biggest NFT marketplace — are down 80% in March from their peak in February. The average selling price of NFTs and number of accounts buying and selling NFTs weekly have also dropped, according to NonFungible.

The market’s slump is raising questions about the long-term outlook for NFTs, which saw $41B in sales and an explosion of VC investment in 2021.

In this week’s Scouting Report, we break down the rapid evolution of the wearables market and some of the key drivers in that evolution.

Check out the full Heat Check here.

ICYMI: Last month, we published a new Scouting Report on the consumer wearables market. You can access that report and our other research at Insights HQ.

Deal Tracker

Hydrow Receives Fresh $55 Million Round of Funding.

This week’s Insights Deal Tracker highlights:

Hydrow, the provider of body fitness equipment offering in-home rowing workouts for a whole-body approach to health, raised $55 million from a Series D funding round from Constitution Capital, L Catterton, RX3, Liberty Street, Activant Capital and Sandbridge Capital.
FanCraze, the developer of an online trading platform officially licensed for digital cricket collectibles, is raising $100 million in a Series A funding round with backers that include B Capital and Insight Partners. The deal is set close in the coming weeks.
PingPod, the developer of a web-based platform intended to make physical table tennis accessible on-demand to everyone while minimizing waste and carbon emissions, raised $10 million in a Series A round from Sequoia Heritage and KittyHawk Ventures.
RamenVR, the developer of a virtual reality computer gaming software offering massively multiplayer online role-playing games, raised $35 million in a Series B round led by Dune Ventures and Anthos Capital.
FRVR, the developer of online games designed to connect billions of players to captivating games instantly and allow fans to buy and sell players whose values rise and fall based on performance, raised $76 million in venture funding from Hiro Capital.
Standard Liège, the Belgian soccer club, was acquired by the U.S. investment firm 777 Partners LLC for an undisclosed amount.

Try out the full Deal Tracker.

Written by Liam Killingstad