NFT JAM offers NIL program, tournament for basketball recruits

As high school athletic associations in roughly a third of the states in the U.S. allow their athletes to engage in NIL deals while retaining their eligibility, there are new NIL opportunities at the high school level. Later this week, the digital platform HEIR is sponsoring NFT JAM, an event that a press release describes as an “immersive two-day brand experience,” which will feature a full-court, two-on-two basketball tournament.

NFT JAM – where NFT stands for “non-fungible tournament” as a play on non-fungible token – will take place Sept. 9-10 in Atlanta.

Eighteen high school basketball players, including at least a handful of blue-chip recruits, are scheduled to participate. The press release said the attendees will include five-star point guard Elliot Cadeau, five-star shooting guard and Baylor commit Ja’Kobe Walter, four-star point guard and Arkansas commit Layden Blocker, four-star power forward and LSU commit Corey Chest and four-star power forward Tyler McKinley.

Several of the players attend the prep school Link Year Prep.

High school players in NIL ambassador program

High school players will receive access to Web3 educational programming and creator tools as part of HEIR’s NIL and Web3 brand ambassador program. Fans who create an HEIR account will be able to unlock rewards, such as free entry to NFT JAM, members-only content and access to giveaways featuring autographed memorabilia.

“As a company that is creating a platform for next-gen sports fans, we couldn’t be more excited to bring a first-of-its-kind experience to market, and continue to onboard dynamic athletes and their communities into Web3,” HEIR co-founder Jeffrey Jordan said in a press release. “The NFT JAM membership experience on HEIR will be a free membership pass as our platform simplifies the process for sports fans to enter Web3, mint their first NFT and instantly benefit from the rewards and access. With these NIL partnerships, we are able to empower these high school student-athletes, and amplify our mission of jumping the Web2 to Web3 gap by converting sports fans into owners on the blockchain.” 

HEIR’s mission is to transform Web2 users into “active Web3 owners.”

Web3 refers to a decentralized, blockchain-based version of the Internet, which includes features such as NFTs and cryptocurrency.

NFT JAM’s 2-on-2tournament

On Saturday, Sept. 10, the participating high school basketball players will compete in a full-court, two-on-two tournament at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta. The format is inspired by the popular video game NBA Jam.

The tournament bracket will have a single-elimination format, featuring 3-minute quarters and a court that’s smaller than a standard court. Each team will have three players, which means at any time, one player will be on the bench as a substitute.

NFT JAM will be open to the public. The doors will open at 5 p.m. ET.

“This inaugural class of NFT JAM student-athletes represents the next generation of the game,” Jordan said in the release. “We can’t wait for sports fans to experience this unique, exciting and competitive full-court 2 vs 2 basketball format, while also educating these future college and NBA superstars about Web3 technology.”