Today we’re announcing Upland Legits - a new suite of NFT offerings designed to enable brands, personalities, and organizations (such as sports clubs, athletes, artists, entertainment brands and more) to extend their real-life presence into the Upland metaverse and beyond. These new digital assets will enable fans to directly engage with the brands they love in an entirely new way!

We are proud and excited to announce our new licensing agreement with the NFL Player Association, and welcome the identities of over 2,000 football players to Upland! This exciting milestone marks the introduction of the first authentic athlete content to the metaverse.

The future of Upland is filled with opportunities, where NFTs represent much more than a simple transaction. Let us show you our vision and read this post to the end so you can understand all our new NFT offerings. Consider the following scenario...

A Fan Story

Lorie is a die-hard Football fan who runs a small Cleveland-based fleet of decor-moving vans in Upland. She’s been busy building up her team fan score by completing essential collections and having her most unique variants signed by the players on the roster. Her strong fan score drastically improves her chances of executing her plan of minting a rare Baker Mayfield memento jersey, which she can flip in a local secondary-market store that is run by her friend. If she’s successful, she can use the proceeds to expand her fleet of vans and build up her business like never before.

It’s Week 5 of the football season and Cleveland is playing @Chicago. Lorie’s opportunity finally arrives as she gets a late alert that she’s currently #5 in line for the upcoming game’s memento minting starting in 4 hours! She considers taking one of her vans but quickly decides not to risk missing the chance and hops on the Hyperloop for a quicker trip enroute to the stadium in Chicago

The first 3 fans in line mint Chicago players memento, while the player just ahead of her grabs the Nick Chubb cleats. Luckily, Lorie can successfully mint the coveted memento jersey and tunes in to watch the game. Who knows, maybe Mayfield will have a remarkable day? Well, Baker ends up having a career day which results in an “all-on-fire” memento jersey, sending Lorie through the roof with excitement for her purchase.

Just 3 days later, a virtual package arrives at Lorie’s Upland Cleveland home address with the shiny new NFT. Lorie, brimming with joy, takes it to her friend’s Cleveland fan shop. She imagines her scaled-up fleet of vans zooming across the Cleveland cityscape, delivering virtual decor like never before! At the shop’s virtual doorsteps, she takes another look at her one-of-a-kind jersey and becomes overwhelmed with pride; after all, she is a die-hard Cleveland fan. Suddenly, she starts to lament the thought of parting ways with it. By extension, Baker’s jersey is a part of her identity and is a momentous piece of Cleveland sports history. Finally, just as Lorie is about to step virtually into the store, she pauses to examine her prize one last time and thinks to herself - ‘You know what? This one’s a keeper.’

A New Family of Upland NFTs

Upland Legits are part of a new generation of interactive NFTs that incorporate stunning 3D designs and are optimized for a mobile experience. Beyond the collectible nature of Legits, these new NFTs also offer an added layer of gamification through collections, location-based minting events, burn/merge mechanics, and unique interactions with brands and personas which include virtual autograph signing events. Additionally, Legits can also exist inside Upland homes and apartments as either inanimate or interactive 3D objects.

The family of Legit NFTs include the following:

Legit Essentials

These are 3D objects that serve as official branded virtual merchandise and would normally be common and inexpensive. Essentials are not limited by the number of mints, but rather in seasonality or time.  Essentials may also have different variants that make them more unique and limited in mint numbers, and fans will also have the option of merging their essentials to create different types of Replicas (definition below).

For example, Derrick Henry Essentials may include a branded football jersey carrying the star running back’s name and number. Each season, there may be different jersey variations, and the number of mints will be determined by the number of actual jersey NFTs that were minted by fans throughout the season. Henry’s essentials will be available for minting in the fan shop located in the stadium in Tennessee, and could be placed on display inside 3D home spaces and used to complete Derrick Henry and Tennessee related collections. 

Legit Mementos

While the actual Memento objects are technically very similar to essentials, they are unique in that they commemorate real-world events related to the brand or persona and are usually rare “1 of 1” NFTs. In addition, these NFTs are integrated with relevant data from the event such as personal game stats.

For example, players will be able to register to secure Aaron Rodgers mementos in the stadium located in Green Bay right before the actual game starts. After the game, the memento item will be minted alongside Rodger’s performance stats in that game and sent to the owner. Legendary performances will cause these commemorative NFTs to virtually “catch fire.”

Legit Replicas

While Mems are usually “1 of 1” NFTs, players can still create replicas of these memento items. Replicas are still limited in total mint numbers and are minted by merging and burning different types of Essential NFTs. 

For example, Kansas City fans may take different Essential NFTs from various Kansas City players and merge (and burn) them to create a new NFT. Merging and burning essentials may have a random chance to produce a Replica of one of star defensive lineman Chris Jones’s performances from that season’s playoffs.

As Replicas carry player performance stats and are generally less valuable than their memorabilia counterparts, they are ideal candidates for use in different future meta games, such as 1 vs 1 Football simulation games.

Legit Autographs

Lastly, all Upland Legit NFT products carry a unique feature that allow them to be officially and digitally signed by their respective personalities. 

For example, Green Bay fans may queue up after the game for an opportunity to greet players as they virtually depart from the game. All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams may be one of the players making a virtual appearance to sign offers. Some lucky fans in the queue with Davante Adams Legits may be able to have their NFTs virtually signed, which will be notarized as part of the NFT on the blockchain.  

And More..

Upland’s first-ever licensing agreement with the NFL Player Association, is just the first step, and is one of many more brands poised to join the Upland metaverse. This is a momentous occasion for Uplanders and the Upland team alike, and we can’t wait to bring our vision for Legit NFTs to the main stage. Our goal is to continue to innovate and introduce more unique and truly authentic offerings as additional brands and athletes become integrated with the Upland metaverse. Stay tuned for further updates regarding branded NFTs such as event-based NFTs and personal activations with individual athletes, artists, and brands. Thank you all for supporting us, we can’t wait for what’s ahead! 

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**UPDATE**

The 2020 Legits Kickoff Sale

NFLPA Legits are officially coming to the Upland metaverse! To celebrate the start of the Football season, players will be able to register for an exclusive sale of Legits from the 2020 season next week. Join us for a special presentation on Tuesday, September 14th, at 10:00 AM PT for an overview of all things NFLPA Legits, followed by an AMA with co-founder Idan Zuckerman. Players who attend will also have a chance to be among the first Uplanders to win some NFL Player Legits, so you won't want to miss out!