Authentic Brands Joins the NFT Bandwagon to Compete with Other Giant Companies
Authentic Brands, the entity that bought Reebok International Limited last year, has set its focus on NFTs to remain afloat in the market. The startup aims to retain the popularity of Reebok by venturing into the NFTs to attract potential customers. The move could see the potential clients investing in OG wear.
Reebok NFT Merges Plan
Reebok has been making all possible advancements to get more attention for the brand from the retro-ing classic silhouettes like the Shaqnosis sneakers in creating the “Damenosis.”
According to Bloomberg, Authentic Brands Group Inc. had announced that Reebok is looking to offer to clothe and add NFT and crypto payments soon. The company said that the plan could help the brand get back on the better side of the market. However, according to Authentic Brands, this is just the beginning, as the company is already advancing towards getting the Reebok outfits worldwide and retaining the hottest sports brand in the game.
On Tuesday, the Authentic Brand announced that with the athleticwear’s total capacity, it had signed several distribution partnerships operating in more than 80 countries, including Foot Locker Inc, Farfetch Ltd.’s, New Guards Group, and luxury goods manufacturer Falik Group.
However, the Authenticator president Nick Woodhouse stated that the process would be affected sometime this year, and the coin will be available wherever the interested person will need one. He further noted that it involves a lot of work because Nike and Adidas have control of the game but have high expectations that the Reebok market will surpass $5 billion in global retail sales next year, scaling more heightened than the previous $3.7 billion to $4 billion this year.
Authentic has been relying heavily on venture funds, but it had planned to launch an IPO. The IPO could have raised more money for expansion, however, Authentic Brand decided to set it aside in favor of private financing. Authentic is instead selling equity stakes to CVC Capital and hedge fund HPS Investment Partners (HPS) for hard cash. The company is very optimistic about taking up the NFT challenge amid stiff competition from giant companies in the game like Nike and Adidas. It will be interesting to see how it pans out for Reebok.
Clothing Brands and NFTs
NFTs have prompted several fashion startups to join in the blockchain frenzy, with names like Gucci and Louis Vuitton describing the digital assets as ‘generational’. Italian Fashion house Gucci became one of the first clothing brands to involve themselves with NFTs. The brand created a collection of clothes in a 4-minute film that sold for $25M.
Louis Vuitton partnered with the popular multi-console game League of Legends in 2019, designing clothes for the game’s characters. Additionally, the brand assisted in the development of the League of Legends’ bespoke travel pack Summoner cup.
