Adidas is teaming with Bored Ape Yacht Club to make (more) hyped NFTs

After a head-scratching entry into the metaverse involving NFTs you can’t actually own, Adidas is now entering the space in less ambiguous terms and with the hottest hawker of NFTs around.

Bored Ape Yacht Club has announced it’s partnering with Adidas for a four-way NFT collaboration that also involves the NFT comic series Punks Comic and cryptocurrency investor Gmoney. While details are still scarce, a teaser image sees one of BAYC’s signature apes sporting an Adidas track jacket with logos for all four parties involved.

When Bored Ape Yacht Club’s and Adidas NFTs will release and for how much they’ll initially sell have yet to be announced, but the reveal already puts the sportswear giant on more solid footing in the corporate race to the metaverse. To put it in terms sneakerheads understand, securing BAYC as a collaborator is akin in NFTs to Nike having Off-White as a partner and may very well put Adidas at a serious advantage going forward.

The early days of the metaverse wars — Just two weeks ago, Adidas made its first move into the metaverse with an NFT of dubious worth. The terms of service made clear that Adidas would maintain ownership of the tokens made available through POAP, and all the company would say of its value is that it “may come in handy” later — an ambiguous proposition that has still yet to reveal itself.

Making the news even more underwhelming is that the Adidas’ not-NFT was announced on the same day as Nike’s own initial entry into the metaverse through means more tangible. In partnership with Roblox, the Swoosh launched a virtual world called “Nikeland” in which users can dress their avatars in apparel from Nike, Jordan Brand, and Converse while playing games utilizing cell phone accelerometers to require IRL movement.

As soon as Adidas’ Bored Yacht Club NFTs are minted, it’ll be hard for Nike to out-hype its greatest competitor. And even for those not interested in actually participating in the NFT game, it’ll be interesting to follow the competition as the two brands seek to establish themselves as the preeminent brand of the metaverse.