eBay Deal Brings Sports Merchandise and NFTs to Its Marketplace

eBay entered into a deal with Notable Live, “a digital platform that fosters exceptional fan experiences,” to bring merchandise and NFTs to the eBay marketplace (more on what Non-Fungible Tokens are here).

According to this week’s announcement: “eBay and Notable Live are embarking on a multi-year Commercial Agreement in which Notable Live will bring exclusive player merchandise, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and experiences to the eBay platform.

“Fans will have the ability to go Live! on the Notable Live Platform to meet and interact with their favorite players, teams and leagues.”

eBay said the deal “bridges commerce to experience and creates memories that link the two.”

Last year, eBay entered into a deal with a company called OneOf to launch an NFT collection featuring 3D and animated interpretations of Sports Illustrated covers from iconic athletes.

A month later, eBay acquired KnownOrigin, a marketplace for buying and selling digital collectibles.

A site called Blockworks noted in a post about this week’s news, “Unlike NFTs sold on crypto-native marketplaces such as OpenSea, eBay’s NFT sales aren’t recorded on-chain. Purchases require fiat currencies — through PayPal or credit card — and the digital asset is delivered to the buyer through a redemption link once the purchase is made.” It pointed to “declining market interest” in NFTs.

eBay said combining its collectibles marketplace with Notable Live’s interactive “in the room” experience would provide fans with a new channel to connect for an authentic player interaction.

eBay Vice President of Collectibles Dawn Block was quoted in Tuesday’s announcement: “Fans and collectors turn to eBay to celebrate their favorite players and teams, knowing they can find authentic, one-of-a-kind memorabilia that connects them with the history and future of sports. Our partnership with Notable Live further enhances the market-leading experiences we’ve been building for our community of sports fans, collectors and investors, enabling them to engage with living legends in a new and meaningful way.”

As part of the deal with Notable Live, eBay Ventures invested in the company, acting as lead investor in its recently completed Series A financing round – see more on the EcommerceBytes Blog post, “Why Is eBay in the Venture Capital Business?“

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.