• by Wayne Friedman , October 28, 2021

Continuing its effort to grow its NFT business, Fox Entertainment and its Blockchain Creative Labs have made a multi-year deal with WWE to create digital WWE tokens and collectibles for consumers to purchase and trade.

Blockchain will create digital assets -- NFTs, non-fungible assets -- around WWE talent and WWE events, such as WWE Superstars and WrestleMania.

Since October 2019, Fox Sports has aired WWE’s “Friday Night SmackDown,” a two-hour series on Friday nights at 8 p.m. Fox’s Blockchain Creative Labs’ deal with WWE is first-ever content deal with a non-Fox Corp. entertainment property.

Entertainment executives believe NFTs can deepened engagement of viewers and consumers with their favorite TV content.

To participate in the NFT marketplace, fans can create WWE digital wallet through Eluvio, a blockchain technology, that allows consumers to purchase collectibles using traditional currency or cryptocurrency.

Earlier this year, Fox Entertainment and its Bento Box Entertainment unit started a NFT business with the formation of Blockchain Creative Labs through a $100 million creator fund.

Blockchain recently launched “The MaskVerse” for Fox’s big prime-time show “The Masked Singer” and will also start a digital NFT marketplace a Fox upcoming animated comedy, “Krapopolis.”

Separately, Blockchain Creative Labs announced a sponsorship with the big spring media/entertainment/technology event, South by Southwest (SXSW), scheduled for March, as the conference's first blockchain-sponsor. As part of the deal SXSW will mint its first-ever NFT, and artists, filmmakers and brands coming to SXSW can "tokenize" their work using the company's blockchain and NFT technology.

This story has been updated