Terms of the deal were not disclosed, according to CNBC.
Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said: CNBC, “Selling ownership at this time has allowed investors to recoup most of their investment via cash or additional shares in Fanatics. It’s a favorable outcome for investors in an imploding NFT market, where the price of a standalone NFT.”
Rubin cited several factors in selling Fanatics, describing it as “a fairly simple and easy decision for us to make for several reasons.”
“The past year has made it clear that NFTs are unlikely to be sustainable or profitable as stand-alone businesses,” Rubin wrote. “With the exception of physical collectibles (trading cards) which make up his 99% of the business, digital products have more value and usefulness when connected with physical collectibles and are best for collectors. We believe that it will create an experience of
Galaxy Digital acquired the official license of Major League Baseball and founded Candy Digital with entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk in June 2021, at a time when the sports NFT market was booming. In October 2021, Candy Digital raised his $100 million in a Series A funding round at a valuation of $1.5 billion.
In January 2022, Fanatics acquired Topps for approximately $500 million after also acquiring the rights to create MLB trading cards to support the initiative. However, the NFT market has fallen significantly in 2022 following the decline in the broader cryptocurrency market. In November, Candy Digital reportedly laid off at least a third of his staff of 100.
