- Sports Illustrated Tickets has moved its NFT ticketing platform from Polygon to Avalanche.
- The move comes less than one year after the platform launched on Polygon.
- Following the move, Avalanche Founder Emin Gün Sirer has again stoked the flames of animosity with Polygon.
As awareness of the capabilities of blockchain technology grows, established firms continue to test the waters. Amid this influx, the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain has emerged as a favorite, onboarding big names like Warner Music, Nike, and Starbucks.
In the latest instance, however, Polygon’s impressive roster of big brand partnerships is getting a haircut following a recent move from Sports Illustrated or at least its ticketing subsidiary. After nearly a year on Polygon, the firm has opted to move its NFT ticketing platform.
Sports Illustrated Dumps Polygon (MATIC) for Avalanche (AVAX)
In May 2023, Sports Illustrated Tickets announced the launch of its NFT ticketing platform Box Office on Polygon, promising to connect event hosts to their attendees like never before through collectibles, highlights, loyalty benefits, and more while eliminating ticket scalping and fraud. Nine months later, however, SI Tickets is abruptly announcing a move away from Polygon.
Sponsored
On Tuesday, February 20, the firm announced that it has partnered with Ava Labs to bring Box Office to Avalanche (AVAX) without stating a reason for its move from Polygon. DailyCoin could not reach SI Tickets for comments at the time of writing.
At the same time, DailyCoin could not confirm reports that Avalanche purchased a stake in SI Tickets, as Avalanche has yet to return a request for comment.
Per the available press release, Box Office on Avalanche will operate similarly to how it worked on Polygon, focusing on guest engagement.
Sponsored
“Ava Labs is a best-in-class partner, and Avalanche will help us continue to give our partner venues and events the ability to transform the ticket into dynamic content to further engage guests,” SI Tickets CEO David Lane stated.
SI Tickets’ Box Office is the second big-name project to move from Polygon to Avalanche amid animosity between both projects in nearly as many months.
Avalanche (AVAX) and Polygon (MATIC) Square Off
In December 2023, Mirai Labs, the studio behind the blockchain game Pegaxy, disclosed that it was migrating from Polygon to an Avalanche Subnet. At the time, Avalanche Founder Emin Gün Sirer stirred bad blood in the Polygon community by seemingly shading the Ethereum scaling solution as having “nonexistent” technology.
Later in the same month, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal dissed Avalanche for its apparent inability to handle EVM inscriptions.
Following the SI Tickets move, Avalanche’s Sirer has again stoked the flames of animosity. On Tuesday, February 20, he tweeted:
“Sports Illustrated needed a chain that actually worked. So they abandoned a project that gave them money and came to Avalanche.”
Sirer’s jab comes despite reports suggesting that SI Tickets’ move results from an Avalanche acquisition.
On the Flipside
- CryptoSlam data suggests that the exit of SI Tickets is likely to have a negligible impact on Polygon’s NFT volumes.
- The reason for SI Tickets’ move remains unclear.
Why This Matters
Sports Illustrated is a globally recognizable brand. The firm’s ticketing arm’s move from Polygon to Avalanche raises questions about the former. At the same time, the move adds to growing tensions between the blockchain communities.
Read this for more on rising tensions between Polygon and Avalanche:
Polygon Founder Shades Avalanche Over Inscription Struggles
See how XDFi intends to onboard institutions to DeFi with help from Flare:
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