The popularity of NFTs is on a roll. Two weeks ago, the popular auction site eBay announced it will allow users to buy these tokens of digital assets on its platform. 

Despite only allowing traditional currency via credit card or a PayPal account to buy these NFTs, the fact that eBay is opening them to its 182 million users is promising. The market for NFTs is booming –and people in sports are quickly capitalizing on it. 

Since NFTs are basically registered pieces of digital assets, they are becoming valuable merchandise, collectibles, or money-making tools for the sports industry. These are the 5 top sports–related NFT uses that have been announced lately:

1. Strengthening personal branding. Luka Garza, from the University of Iowa’s basketball team, became the first college basketball star to sell his own NFT card. The winning bid was $41,141.81.

2. Esports. This fully digital sports arena, which includes all sorts of competitive activities whether it be collecting Pokemon cards to creating an esports league of its own, opens up the opportunity to mint digital merchandise like never before. 

3. Team merchandise. The Golden State Warriors from the NBA are the first US professional sports team to issue its own NFT collection, which includes limited-edition digital versions of championship rings.

4. Fundraising. Kansas City Chiefs’ player Patrick Mahomes sold $3.4 million worth of NFTs in less than 20 minutes. The proceeds mainly went to several charity institutions supported by Mahomes. 

5. Marking anniversaries. Mexican soccer team Chivas, one of the most popular in the country, is marking its 115th anniversary with a contest among fans to create digital assets, followed by an auction of the items in early June.