A friendship that grew out of bonding over sports memorabilia has turned into what Tampa hopes is the next great sports tech startup, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.
And he’s getting a little help from his friends.
Trevor Palladino, a University of Tampa graduate, co-founded the soft sports technology startup Fanfield with co-founder Michael Vick, a former NFL star who started his career with the Atlanta Falcons and played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2009 to 2013. Vick continued to play. He played for two more teams before announcing his retirement in 2017.
The pair first began dating six years ago and first met through the player’s locker at Palladino’s sports memorabilia company. When Paladino was thinking of starting Fanfield, an NFT-led sports technology startup, he knew who he wanted as a co-founder.
“I brought it [Vick] “I didn’t want to work with someone who didn’t believe,” Palladino, 27, told Tampa Bay Inno. That’s it, and that wouldn’t have brought some kind of value to it.
The company has a soft launch with a bigger launch coming this September. It allows users to purchase NFTs that allow them to experience with athletes. It’s a tiered system, with higher-value NFTs aggregating things like personal meet-and-greets and lower tiers getting things like autographed merchandise and digital business cards.
“In my professional experience there has never been anything like this,” Palladino said. “There are autographs or you can bid on certain experiences, but the events we want to do – they will be closer.”
Check out PBJ.com’s full article to learn more about Paladino’s plan to grow its Metaverse presence and other areas of focus.
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