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Sports betting and online casino giant BetOnline has gotten into the NFT scene.
On Monday February 7 the company revealed it had bought Bored Ape Yacht Club #320 for 120 Ethereum, which equates to more than $375,000 in U.S. dollars at the time of this writing.
They are in very exclusive company with Bored Ape members that include the likes of Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mark Cuban, Paris Hilton, Shaquille O'Neal and Steph Curry. Bieber just bought another for US$470,000.
"Our company was an early adopter of cryptocurrency because we strongly believe in the future of blockchain technology," BetOnline CEO Eddie Robbins III said. "NFTs are a new vertical for us, but we're just as bullish on this global movement as we are on the crypto space."
BetOnline made its entry into the NFT market in December 2021 behind targeted purchases of the "Knights of Degen" project. The Bored Ape acquisition indicates a long-term vision for the Web3 world from BetOnline, as well as a strengthening of corporate sponsorships and promotions.
During Super Bowl LVI, BetOnline announced it will be giving away $1,000 of Bitcoin for every point scored to lucky customers selected through a raffle. Anyone can enter the giveaway via the website before kickoff on Super Sunday.
The online sportsbook is running an additional contest where it will award a Bitcoin to anyone who predicts the winner of the game and the exact final score.
They will also be offering a wide assortment of NFT and crypto prop bets for Super Bowl 2022 that include whether or not a Bored Ape will appear on stage during the halftime show.
BetOnline recently signed a multi-year deal as the official sports betting partner of the Fan Controlled Football league. Four of the league's eight teams are owned by these individual NFT projects: Bored Ape Yacht Club, Knights of Degen, Gutter Cat Gang and 80KI (Steve Aoki).
"We saw this as an extremely exciting opportunity to join one of the world's most desirable NFT communities. Our Ape really spoke to us. He's fun, he's hip and he's now a symbol of our commitment to this industry," Robbins III added. "We're just getting started with non-fungible tokens, but we have big plans for this burgeoning industry."
BetOnline emerged onto the Web betting scene in 1999 as primarily a horse racing site before adopting its current brand identity in 2001.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
