The NBA is launching an NFT program in Cleveland pegged to both basketball history in the city and the upcoming All-Star Weekend.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The NBA is releasing a series of artistic All-Star 2022 court NFTs that pay homage to the game in Cleveland.

What the NBA has created amounts to a series of shoppable art galleries in several locations throughout downtown Cleveland.

“It’s a reimagination of the way in which large events designed the strategic vision of the city,” said Joey Graziano, the league’s senior vice president for business operations and global events.

“We’re allowing our fans to own a piece of that story for the first time. That’s why we’re calling it the first ever shoppable NFT art gallery,” he said. “Our imagination for this is just as you visit any art gallery around the world. Our fans can now go, look at the buildings they call home, see those buildings dressed with NBA art, and in an instant buy a piece of that art via a digital collectible NFT.”

NFTs – non-fungible tokens – are minted, digital works with data stored via blockchain. The NBA Cleveland NFTs will be available for purchase from Monday, Feb. 7, through All-Star Weekend, which is Feb. 18-20.

The announcement comes on the heels of the Cavslaunching a virtual lockerfor its line of NFTs for fans.

“When you see that piece of art and it speaks to you and it means something, you are then able – just like you could at any art gallery – buy that art,” Graziano said.

QR codes to access the NFTs will be located throughout downtown Cleveland (the sites are available beginning today – Friday, Feb. 4):

• Tower City entrances at Public Square and Huron Road

• Jack Casino bridge

• RTA B-Line trolleys

• Metropolitan at the 9, 2017 E. 9th St.

• The Arcade on Euclid Avenue

• Gateway Plaza outside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Each location will have one NFT design.

“We’re going to send our fans on this scavenger hunt around the city to view all these pieces,” he said.

Designs focus on NBA All-Star courts, including:

• 1966 from Cincinnati Gardens.

• 1981 from Richfield Coliseum, which marked the league’s 35th anniversary.

• 1997 from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, then Gund Arena, commemorating the league’s 50th anniversary.

• The 2022 court showcasing the league’s 75th anniversary.

The NFTs will be sold at two price points: The NBA edition will cost $20.22 to mark the year, and a limited Diamond edition will cost $750, denoting the league’s 75th anniversary. Purchase of any Diamond edition NFT also will include a mini physical replica of the court. Ten total designs will be available, five each for the NBA and Diamond editions.

The NFTs also will be availableonline, though the league is hoping the physical locations will attract folks to the downtown stations.

The league’s branding aims to “make the city feel like the home of the NBA for that period of time,” Graziano said of the upcoming All-Star Weekend, which includes multiple events at several venues.

The three-day Crossover will be a combination of art, pop culture, technology and basketball at Cleveland Public Auditorium. On Feb. 18, the All-Star Celebrity Game takes place at the Wolstein Center while the NBA’s Rising Stars Game is set for Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. That game will feature the Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro. All-Star Saturday Night (skills challenge, three-point competition, dunk contest) is Feb. 19 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The weekend culminates with the 71st NBA All-Star game Sunday, Feb. 20.

The league also said $100,000 of proceeds from the sale of the NFTs will go to the Cleveland Foundation’sFunders Collaborative on COVID Recovery, a partnership program that includes nearly 50 philanthropic foundations, non-profits and government entities.

History helped fuel the NFT initiative, Graziano said.

“We’ve had some of the biggest moments in NBA All-Star history happen in the state of Ohio and in the city of Cleveland starting with … 1981, certainly our 50th anniversary in 1997, and now our 75th anniversary here in 2022,” he said.

NFT assets can be resold, with their values subject to market fluctuations that would affect any traded commodity.

“This is going to live on beyond NBA All-Star Weekend to something that continues to bring together new eyeballs to the history of the All-Star Game in Cleveland.”