Image credit: Grok/X

It’s Super Bowl season, a time when global attention shifts to American football, with celebrity appearances, chart-topping performances, and multi-million-dollar commercials sharing the spotlight with the NFL’s best.

This year, the Kansas City Chiefs are on the brink of history, aiming for an unprecedented three-peat after their nail-biting 32-29 victory over the Buffalo Bills. They’ll face the Philadelphia Eagles on February 9 in New Orleans, marking a rematch of Super Bowl 57.

Amid the excitement, there is another intriguing storyline, as a legal dispute involving DraftKings and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) over NFT payments has reached a resolution.

DraftKings, the prominent U.S. sports betting platform, and the NFLPA announced on Monday that they had mediated their lawsuit and reached a settlement in principle. The case stemmed from allegations that DraftKings failed to honor payments for using NFL player likenesses in non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Both parties submitted a joint letter to New York federal Judge Analisa Torres, requesting a 60-day stay of the case to finalize the settlement by March 28. While the specifics of the agreement remain undisclosed, the settlement brings an end to a contentious legal battle.

The dispute originated from a 2021 partnership between DraftKings and the NFLPA to create collectible NFTs tied to a fantasy sports game called Reignmakers. These NFTs allowed fans to trade digital assets featuring NFL players. However, DraftKings shuttered its NFT marketplace in July 2023 after a federal court ruling suggested the collectibles might qualify as securities under the Securities Act and Exchange Act. DraftKings argued this gave them the right to terminate their payment obligations under the contract.

The NFLPA, in turn, filed a lawsuit in August, reportedly seeking around $65 million in damages—though the exact amount was later redacted. The union also claimed that DraftKings threatened to stop offering the NFTs in 2023, leading the parties to renegotiate their agreement. The settlement comes just days before Super Bowl 59, adding an extra layer of intrigue to this year’s championship.

Judge Analisa Torres, recognized in crypto circles for presiding over the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple, must approve the settlement before it is finalized. This high-profile case reflects the challenges of navigating NFT-related contracts in an evolving legal landscape, particularly as NFTs gain traction in sports and entertainment.

The broader NFT market, while seeing a modest rebound, remains far from its peak. NFT sales reached $8.9 billion in 2024, a 2.3% increase from the previous year but a significant drop from the $23.7 billion recorded in 2022, according to CryptoSlam. Meanwhile, the absence of crypto-related ads in recent Super Bowls—once dominated by brands like Coinbase, Crypto.com, and FTX—further highlights shifting dynamics in the intersection of sports, crypto, and NFTs.

As the Chiefs and Eagles prepare for their showdown, the DraftKings settlement offers a reminder of the complexities behind the scenes, where innovation, legality, and sports collide in ways that are as unpredictable as the games themselves.

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