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Budweiser partners with Zed Run to enter NFT game domain

Zed Run and Budweiser have collaborated to release Clydesdale draft horses, and a Budweiser themed race track with prize pools starting at $45,000

By Shashank Bhardwaj

Published: Jun 9, 2022 06:37:53 PM IST

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Popular beer brand Budweiser and Ethereum-based NFT horse racing game Zed run have come together for a marketing and sponsorship deal to launch a Budweiser-themed race track in Zed Run. The two will release Budweiser NFT passes, racing prize pools starting at $45,000, and three tiers of airdropped Clydesdale themed NFT skins, which can be used in Zed Run.

This move by Budweiser adds to its latest spending worth $120,000 on NFT fan art and the beer.eth domain name purchased from Ethereum Name Service in August 2021.

Zed Run’s racing horse NFTs initially cost $30 to $80 to mint but have since become one of the most sought after assets, trading for thousands of dollars on secondary markets. In April 2021, a user sold a single racehorse NFT for a whopping $125,000.

The Budweiser Clydesdales are a popular group of horses Budweiser uses for promos and commercials. The beer company is a major sponsor of horse racing events that happen worldwide.

A total of 2,500 Budweiser Pass NFTs will be up for sale for a maximum of 24 hours this Friday. These passes can be bought by any user aged 21 and above. The NFT costs $225 per piece and the gas fees.

As per the deal, two Budweiser racing championships will be hosted by Zed Run in July and September, with prize pools of $45,000 and a tournament in December with a reward prize of $95,000, which will also offer a chance to win a year’s supply of the brand’s beer.

In July, Clydesdale skin NFTs will be airdropped to the NFT holders to spice up the existing racehorse NFTs in-game. The users will also receive Budweiser t-shirts and wearables, which their avatars can wear in the Decentraland metaverse, the Zed Run’s virtual headquarters location.

Three different versions of horse racing skin NFTs, in varying quantities, by the duo are up for grabs. These are the 1600 Classic Clydesdales, 100 Gold Clydesdales and 800 Bud Bottle Clydesdales.

After the completion of tournaments, the projects will offer rewards to whoever burns their Budweiser Pass NFT. The specifics, however, have not been revealed yet.

The move is “an example of how we’re constantly innovating and leveraging new technologies, like NFTs, to create memorable experiences for fans and bolster our brand,” says Spencer Gordon, the vice president of consumer connections at AB InBev.

Users can also bet on virtual races, trade NFTs and breed new tokenized racehorses via colts with mares and fillies or mating stallions on Zed Run. The project raised $20 million of Series A funding in July 2021, backed by crypto venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz and Red Beard Ventures.

Shashank is the founder of yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash