Blockchain Modifying Sports Industry

Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. — Bobby Unser

When the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant economic impact on the sports industry, blockchain-based solutions provide professional clubs and organizations new ways of generating revenue and owning fan loyalty.

Since the formation of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, many sectors have become interested in blockchains, such as agri-food, healthcare or energy. This distributed and decentralized data storage and transmission technology are also growing in the world of sport.

Fan Tokens and crypto collectables

A sports organization or club issues these digital assets during a Fan Token Offering (FTO). Like the Initial Coin Offering does not empower buyers to obtain stocks and shares. Still, instead, the tokens allow them to play a part in a team’s life and get advantages. These tokens, known as “utility tokens”, can increase in value and be exchanged on the secondary market.

This fundraising method is highly profitable for the clubs as it enables them to obtain new funds quickly while developing long-term fan commitment.

Unlike ordinary digital collectables, those that come with an NFT (called “crypto-collectables”) are rare as they are given a serial number. They are not reproducible, and their owner’s integrity, authenticity, and rarity can be verified.

Smart Contract ticketing

The reselling of fake tickets is a significant problem for organizers of sporting events. Some people use computer programs to buy many tickets as soon as they go on sale, then sell them on at exorbitant prices. Others simply sell forgery. The result is that attending prestigious sporting events has become unavailable for many fans.

Faced with this 2 sided problem, the sports industry must rethink electronic ticketing, and blockchain appears to result from regulating resale prices and preventing fraud.

Securing sport and medical data

A distributed and decentralized register, blockchain could make it impossible to set up a digital file that brings together data relating to an athlete’s performance and medical data.

Such a file would be an excellent way for the fight against doping, enabling various organizations to produce, store, access, and share data linked to doping, which is entirely transparent.

Again, blockchain brings its capacity to guarantee the integrity of the traceable and unalterable data contained in this passport. The verification and validation before recording new data prevent certain users (corrupt national federations, unscrupulous laboratories) from falsifying data while reinforcing trust in anti-doping test procedures, which many scandals have tainted.

Blockchain layer of Security

Robust cryptographic protocols guard the information stored on a blockchain, protecting it from competitors intent on stealing more than the catcher’s signs to the pitcher. Only those team members with permission can access the data.

Computer Science: A path to Blockchain in Sports

Blockchain in the sports industry is a new area where much work is yet to be done, and computer scientists will do much of that work. A program such as Maryville University’s online Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, with its blockchain concentration, can lay the foundation for a career on the front lines of the field.

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This is a post in our Medium blog, ‘Blockchain for Everyone.’

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