For the 75th anniversary of hockey legend Gordie Howe‘s NHL debut, his family is offering up something unique to honour his memory and raise money for the Howe Foundation charity he started with his wife Colleen.
An NFT (non-fungible token) art collection celebrating his legacy is being auctioned off starting Friday.
The collection includes nine original NFT art pieces.
They will be available for bidding during the six-day auction on a digital collectibles platform called Blockparty.
Gordie’s son Mark says the family is excited to share Mr. Hockey’s legacy in a personal and unique way. His son Travis took the reins with the project.
“He said, ‘I haven’t seen anything come across where NFTs tell a story about a human being,’” Mark explained. “He said, ‘I want to tell the story of Gordie Howe.'”
NFTs are unique and collectible digital assets that represent a moment or item. They can be electronically bought, sold or traded virtually.
Their rarity and authenticity is what gives them their value — something that appealed to the Howe family to represent Gordie.
“We came up with 10 different stories, if you will, that have relevance to our family and to Gordie that we could share — versus sharing a hockey card or a signed photo or something like that,” Travis explained.
The art collection features NFTs in three categories: ultra rare, rare and limited, based on the number created.
The funds will go to supporting women and youth in sports through the Howe Foundation.