As a strategic brand ambassador, Dominique Wilkins will advise athletes and public figures on how to integrate NFTs into their personal brand-building initiatives using Upstream
By Fernanda De La Torre
This week we announced that NBA Hall of Famer and Hawks’ Vice President of Basketball Dominique Wilkins joined Upstream as a strategic brand ambassador.
We’re very excited to have Dominique Wilkins on the team to help advise athletes and public figures on how to integrate NFTs into their personal brands. With Wilkins’ expertise, athletes and celebrities in his extensive network will be empowered to generate unique fan engagement experiences driven by Upstream’s eco-friendly, regulated exchange.
Welcome Dominique Wilkins
As a strategic brand ambassador, Dominique Wilkins will help drive Upstream’s groundbreaking exchange and sports vertical, which provides professional and college athletes with the opportunity to generate new digital collectible (NFT) revenue streams while building brand longevity as the world of Web 3.0 continues to emerge.
As an NBA Hall of Famer, named one of the greatest 75 players in league history, Dominique Wilkins provides a 360-degree view into how Upstream’s technology supports athletes’ needs.
Wilkins will also be launching his own NFT line on Upstream in the near future.
“I know from my career and from the athletes that I’ve had the privilege of mentoring how important it is to build a strong presence on and off the court,” says Dominique Wilkins. “Upstream’s Web 3.0 approach is unlike any of the other platforms out there, offering a next-level fan engagement vehicle to drive funds and expand your brand to the masses, rather than to the few benefiting from the NFT market already.”
The benefits NFTs can bring athletes and brands
Web 3.0 is here, and the NFT space continues to expand and present untapped opportunities for athletes, musicians, artists, and brands alike. NFTs are showcasing how they can be used to boost fan engagement, amplify experiences, and create new revenue streams that can be used to fund athletes’ careers and celebrity ventures.
Thanks to new NCAA rules, athletes can now profit from their names, images, and likeness (NIL) through endorsements, sponsorships, and a variety of other business ventures. This makes now the ideal time to incorporate NFTs into brand-building strategies.
Both college and professional athletes can leverage their personal brands to generate continuous NFT revenue they’re in complete control of. Athletes can use NFTs to fund and drive exposure to their brand, a social impact initiative, and additional goals. Proceeds from NFT sales will be available for withdrawal immediately, and the athlete or celebrity can be eligible for royalty payments each time an NFT is traded.
Brands and public figures also have the same opportunities to modernize their fan engagement efforts. NFTs can help them open brands to a new online ecosystem while bringing unique NFT opportunities to market that align with their brand.
Upstream has been working on creating a seamless, user-friendly experience to help both athletes and celebrities enter the NFT space. Upstream does not require any prior blockchain knowledge. This simplifies the creation of NFTs and allows fans to claim and purchase them all through a simple app.
What sets Upstream apart for athletes and public figures
“As the only regulated exchange powered by the blockchain to offer both digital securities and NFT trading, Upstream is at the forefront of investor protection offering brands and their fans a heightened level of security and utility that goes beyond industry hype,” says Upstream Co-Founder Mark Elenowitz.
- Upstream is the first regulated securities exchange to offer both NFT and securities trading to protect your brand and your fans in the NFT market.
- Upstream features no upfront costs, no contract or lock-in period for athletes and celebrities, as well as no gas fees charged to users which enables athletes to offer thousands or millions of free, low-cost, and premium NFTs.
- Athletes and celebrities can integrate a royalty to their NFTs and continue to receive royalty payments throughout the NFTs’ lifecycles. They may withdraw profits immediately after sale to fuel their career and enjoy continued fan engagement through trading.
- Upstream is 100% carbon neutral with its own solar “field” for ETH mining used for our Ethereum layer-2 rollups.
- Upstream simplifies the fan user journey on its secure, eco-friendly platform. Fans can claim or purchase NFTs using PayPal, Credit or Debit Card, US dollars, or digital currency in the form of USDC Stablecoin.
Concluding thoughts
We’re thrilled to have Dominique Wilkins join our impressive team of partners and brand ambassadors which include heavyweights across sports, music, and entertainment. We believe Dominiques’ role as a brand ambassador will help propel our growth initiatives across our sports vertical. Make sure to follow us to stay tuned with all the new opportunities coming with the support of Dominique Wilkins!
Interested athletes can learn more at https://upstream.exchange/ or reach the team at hello@upstream.exchange.
About Upstream
Upstream, a MERJ Exchange Market, is a fully regulated global stock exchange for digital securities. Powered by Horizon’s proprietary matching engine technology, the exchange enables investors to trade shares in IPOs, NFTs, U.S., and international dual-listed equities, and celebrity ventures directly from the app https://upstream.exchange/. Interested issuers can reach the team at hello@upstream.exchange.
About Horizon
Horizon is a fintech company that builds and powers global securities exchanges with an integrated suite of software for compliant issuance, management, and secondary trading of securities. Their in-house solutions combine Wall Street and Silicon Valley to power the next generation of securities offerings and trading in the U.S. and globally. Learn more at https://www.horizonfintex.com/.
Disclaimers
Upstream is a MERJ Exchange market. MERJ Exchange is a licensed Securities Exchange, an affiliate of the World Federation of Exchanges, and a full member of ANNA. MERJ supports global issuers of traditional and digital securities through the entire asset life cycle from issuance to trading, clearing, settlement, and registry. It operates a fair and transparent marketplace in line with international best practices and principles of operations of financial markets. Upstream does not endorse or recommend any public or private securities bought or sold on its app. Upstream does not offer investment advice or recommendations of any kind. All brokerage services offered by Upstream are intended for self-directed clients who make their own investment decisions without aid or assistance from Upstream. All customers are subject to the rules and regulations of their jurisdiction. By accessing the site or app, you agreed to be bound by its terms of use and privacy policy. Company and security listings on Upstream are only suitable for investors who are familiar with and willing to accept the high risk associated with speculative investments, often in early and development stage companies. There can be no assurance the valuation of any particular company’s securities is accurate or in agreement with the market or industry comparative valuations. Investors must be able to afford market volatility and afford the loss of their investment. Companies listed on Upstream are subject to significant ongoing corporate obligations including, but not limited to disclosure, filings, and notification requirements, as well compliance with applicable quantitative and qualitative listing standards.