CLEMSON — There are two kinds of professional athletes: Those who move the needle, and those who do not.
And then there was Blockfolio.
Search engine results showed the Lawrence ad did move the needle.
Lawrence, in addition to potentially bolstering his finances, got painted as a forward-thinker with his finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist.
“These guys, I’m sure they get thrown all different kinds of offers for sponsorship deals.
Fans of cryptocurrency want to see it reach mass adoption, at which point it will be used by the public on a massive scale as a regular payment method.
1 overall pick, he’s obviously got a massive platform marketing wise,” said Joe Pompliano, who writes the daily money and sports email newsletter Huddle Up.
Okung got his wish — kind of.
Teams are getting involved, too.
The Oakland Athletics and Dallas Mavericks accept different cryptocurrencies as payment for tickets sales, and in April, FTX won the naming rights for the Miami Heat’s arena.
“He’s been great to work with, and he’s also excited about crypto,” Bankman-Fried said in an interview with Cheddar News.
In April, Topps launched a collection of six NFT trading cards designed by Lawrence’s brother, Chase, and sister-in-law, Brooke, in the same vein of the physical 50-card trading cart set released by the company in March.
And on May 6, Adidas held an auction for an NFT featuring Lawrence, with all proceeds going to Jacksonville charities.
Nelson said it’s difficult to chart Lawrence’s impact on the market, especially with bitcoin.
He’s won national and state awards in sports and feature writing, and for reasons unclear he still roots for the New York Knicks.