John Terry’s Ape Kids NFT Project Fails, Celebs Withdraw Endorsement

John Terry’s Ape Kids NFT Project has gone down by 90% in value. On its launch by February 2, Terry’s ‘Ape Kids Football Club’ NFTs were publicly traded for an average price of $656. By March 8, the average price had dropped to $65.

The Ape Kids FC NFTs are from the partnership of Ape Kids Club and football coach and former player John Terry. The collection is meant to capture the massive football market in the UK and across the world. Those who minted the NFTs got them at a low price. Then, they publicly traded them at a higher price which enabled early investors to flip them and make a profit until the price plunged.

Several things might have caused the drop in the price of the project. First is the controversial premier league trophy legal issue. John Terry removed any forms of the league’s prestigious trophy from his NFTs due to trademark violations. He also removed the badge of Chelsea, the club he played and now works for, from the NFTs for similar reasons.

Second, famous English football players Tammy Abraham and Ashley Cole deleted their endorsements of the project. Lastly, the Premier League is also considering its own official NFT partnership deal that would allow clubs and players to sell branded tokens.

There has been a general dip in the NFT markets in the past weeks, which may also explain part of the plunge. However,  the value of most projects did not go down nearly as much as 90 percent. The question is, will the Ape Kids FC NFTs recover after what happened?