U.S.-licensed Formula One constructor Haas F1 Team has announced a collaboration with non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Opensea. As part of the agreement, a collection of NFTs will be produced for Haas while Opensea’s logo will appear on its cars.
OpenC to help US Formula One team launch NFT collection
OpenC Haas, the leading peer-to-peer marketplace for non-fungible tokens, will create an NFT repository for F1. The collaboration was announced on Thursday by Haas, the only US-owned team to compete in the FIA Formula One World Championship. In a press release on its website, Haas F1 said:
As the ‘Official NFT Marketplace Partner’ of Haas F1 Team, Opensea will work with the team and external collaborators alike in producing a collection of branded NFTs.
The aim of the initiative is to increase fan engagement, the racing team indicated. “NFTs have the incredible power to unlock new experiences and give people a canvas to bring people around the things they love in new ways,” said VP of Product at OpenC Siva Rajaraman.
The executive emphasized that the crypto company is looking forward to launching innovative collections with Haas F1 and providing new opportunities for their community of dedicated fans to get closer to the action.
Also as part of the deal, the OpenC logo will appear on the VF-22 cars, which were designed and manufactured by the Haas F1 team to compete in the 2022 Formula One World Championship.
“We’ve waited to find the right partner in the NFT space and in Opensea we’ve found exactly that,” stated Team Principal of Haas F1 Guenther Steiner.
“To be guided by OpenC on our collections and fan engagement opportunities, we know we will be in good hands as they are not only connected to all the major players, but they are also an industry leader with innovation at the forefront of all.” Let’s do it,” Steiner added, commenting on Haas F1’s first move into the NFT arena.
Collaboration between the crypto industry and the popular racing sport has been gaining traction in the past few years. In the summer of 2021, Formula One secured a multimillion-dollar crypto sponsorship deal with Crypto.com, and in early 2022, Red Bull Racing partnered with crypto exchange Bybit. In mid-October F1 filed eight trademark applications covering a range of crypto, NFT, and metaverse products and services in the U.S.
