Blockchain Decentralization: The Blockchain and the Sports Industry

Published in

Globatalent

3 min readFeb 13, 2018

As a professional athlete, I have enjoyed basketball for many years. I have experienced great international duels during Olympic Games and World Championships, although above all, I have learned to work in a team and overcome adversities with optimism, discipline, and without ceasing to improve any technical, physical or tactical aspect.

Currently, I’m still linked to the sport from a business, technology, and disruption standpoint, which the “Blockchain” will revolutionize along with many other industries where the verticals related to sports and audiovisual rights, digital, and the way of understanding transactions between all parties involved; putting the focus on the fans, who do not want to limit themselves to being mere spectators, but want to participate actively in this world.

It is not strange, therefore, that companies like Microsoft have created alliances to monitor sporting events using “Blockchains” such as the Bravelog network, which registers “running” competitions and the profile of athletes, using Microsoft Azure, and establishing a Blockchain structure to share data (the Taiwan triathlon was the first event to implement BraveLog). The Blockchain protocol, and the so-called “ICO” (the means by which funds are raised to create a new cryptocurrency) incorporate a new model of disruption in sports transactions.

Just as the Internet changed the rules of the game in the media and global re-transmissions, we will now see how the exploitation of the image rights of sportsmen, artists, clubs, leagues, and federations will evolve towards new models of income generation. Take into account the fact that the collection, according to data compiled by ‘Reuters’, reflect that until mid-July 2017, $ 1.2 billion were ‘lifted’ in 89 coin sales, representing ten times more collected in 2016. According to Smith & Crown, more than one hundred online currencies have been ‘coined’ through the “ICO” in the last 365 days, some of them also related to “sports, health, and lifestyle”. Globatalent, as atechnological project promoted by experts in the sector, innovates and proposes to democratize the sport through a Blockchain platform, incorporating all of the actors (professional leagues, federations, athletes, and followers) to generate value.

This process has been automated thanks to the creation of smart contracts, ensuring negotiation in a fast, traceable, safe, and reliable manner. NBA star Mo Evans is one of Globatalent’s advisors so for the great stars of the NBA or the NFL, investing and participating in technological projects related to their world is very attractive. For example, the owners of the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL and the NBA player Jeremy Lin, invested 15 million dollars on the platform Plays.tv, of e-sports (electronic sports), and others, such as Iguodala or Stephen Curry, put their focus on Silicon Valley in the Blockchain sector applied to sports, among other sectors.

Ferrán Martínez
(CO-FOUNDER / STRATEGIC ALLIANCES ADVISOR)