Gymnast Derrian Gobourne Launching ‘Black Girl Magic’ NFT Collection
Gymnast Derrian Gobourne is launching the "Black Girl Magic" NFT collection with Legacy League, which is the premier NFT creation platform and marketplace for college athletes.
The 22-year-old, who is known as the “Queen of the Floor” at Michigan’s Auburn University, told Kristi Dosh’s Game Face podcast, “I am excited to launch my Black Girl Magic NFT Collection on the Legacy League platform. Not only do their values align with mine, there is no better time to do it. It’s time to celebrate, congratulate and pay honor and tribute to all of my sisters who have given so much to this sport and I want the world to see them.”
The series will include other collegiate Black gymnasts, including Hannah Joyner from Rutgers, Amari Celestine from Missouri, Sekai Wright from UCLA and Kyla Bryant from Stanford.
Gobourne explained, “I reached out to a couple of girls that I know in college—Black athletes—like some of my teammates, and then I know that I'm friends with some people in Florida, and just different SEC teams and other teams as well. And we kind of just came together because we all have, like, similar stories, and it was just a great opportunity for all of us. I also wanted to give other black athletes an opportunity to do NIL deals and just give them opportunity to spread their light and their story.”
Gobourne’s agent, Ed James, managing partner of Booked and Busy Talent, said in a statement, “The NIL ecosystem has created an opportunity, not just for athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness, but it has created a vehicle for student-athletes of color to diversify their portfolios and create streams of income past their collegiate careers. Due to institutional inequities many Black and Brown scholar athletes, even the ones on full scholarship, often feel pressured to take out loans to send money back home to their family members who are depending on them. We worked to create Black Girl Magic to bring parity, visibility, and economic justice to a group of young ladies who are becoming the CEOs of their own empires one NFT at a time.”
Stuart Bush, CEO of Legacy League, added, "With female athletes accounting for more than 30% of our roster, we are excited to partner with a powerhouse like Derrian who is committed to both growing the participation among gymnasts of color at all levels of gymnastics, and to helping remarkable female athletes monetize their success in the sport."
Derrian Gobourne is a 2019 NCAA national champion, 1st Team All-American and 3-time All-SEC gymnast.
A specific launch date for the “Black Girl Magic” NFT collection with Legacy League has not been announced as of yet.