Daps Bounty Connects Collectors With Athletes
Daps Bounty CEO Jake Klores grew up living and breathing basketball in New York City, fulfilling his dream of playing college basketball when he suited up for Columbia University from 2017-21. By his senior year, he started thinking about life after basketball, planning a memorabilia marketplace with auctions and buy-it-now options. The advent of NIL also fueled his interest as a former college athlete.
"College athletes were going to make money off the field, and as a college athlete, I thought it’d be cool to build something to help college athletes," Klores told SI Collects.
By the summer of 2024, his idea crystallized into what he describes as a demand-driven marketplace.
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As part of NC State star DJ Burns' NIL deal with Daps, fans can leave messages after purchasing a trading card.
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"Commerce is primarily supply-driven, but one of the biggest things that continued slapping us in the face was there is tons of demand for items and experiences that are not listed out there," Klores said. "We are a reverse marketplace where collectors can come on and make an offer to an athlete who can accept or reject it."
Daps Bounty Process
The site lists several requests, or bounties, that have been made. The bounties include a Ja Morant game-used jersey for $20,000, a Sabrina Ionescu game-used jersey for $50,000, and dinner with NBA Hall of Famer Earl Monroe for $10,000. But requests don't have to be worth thousands of dollars and that potential submitters should feel free to be creative.
"We encourage people to make offers to any athlete from any sport," Klores said. "Our platform will do its best to get you a response."
Klores says he has fulfilled requests involving NBA All-Stars, and mid-major and Ivy League college basketball players. Rutgers freshman Dylan Harper, a potential Top 5 pick in this year's NBA Draft, was requested for a video call for $500. Requests can range from an autograph on a cherished item, a shoutout on social media, or a 10-minute interview for a Q & A or some advice.
"Over the last few years, we’ve been able to build relationships with agencies, and they’ve seen this as a way to build incremental income for their athletes," Klores said. "Every offer is manually filtered by our team before it’s passed on to the athlete. Someone will sign off on it before passing it directly to the athlete or to their representation. They send the answer back to us, and then the reply is sent back to the customer."
Expect Klores and his team to call back if you make an offer. It's an important part of the process to let customers know they've received their request. In instances when the athlete may deny a bounty, Klores' team will recommend a different item or experience for particular budgets or suggest other athletes who may be more available.
Campagnola.
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College Basketball Talk.
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It’s all possible on Bounty.
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Future Plans for Daps Bounty
Klores' next plan is to automate the site so that when someone types in a player and what they want, they'll receive a price recommendation. However, he now encourages people to submit requests without a price.
"Right now, the price field is optional," Klores said. "Our team will get back to you on what price will most likely be accepted. We don't want to force people to come up with a price off the top of their head."
Klores is excited by emerging sports markets such as women's basketball and soccer. He believes the leagues will continue to grow in visibility and give athletes greater financial opportunities.
Adrian Wojnarowksi Auction
Daps Bounty recently made headlines when former ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski auctioned off several of his iPhones and press credentials to raise money for the St. Bonaventure athletics department. The iPhone used to break the news that Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were going to the Los Angeles Clippers sold for $5,000. His ESPN ID badge also sold for $5,000.
Dinner for five with Wojnarowski and a Zoom call are still available. Any interested parties can submit an offer.
It's part of the ever-improving process that Klores is taking with Daps Bounty.
"In the next few weeks we're going to figure out a way to show the offers coming in to get people’s imaginations jumpstarted," he says.
Horacio is an avid sports card collector and writes about trending card auctions and news across several major hobby sites, including Sports Collectors Daily and Collectibles on SI.
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