Digital currency and the future of sports
Sports are passionate and universal. They bring entire countries together, and sometimes they’re a vital part of collective culture. However, just as many other activities, the way people experience sports have been slowly transforming with the surge of technology.
In order for sports of all kinds to keep up with modern society; organizations and users need to embrace digital opportunities. And we’re not just talking about social media (although that is a very important part of participating in the virtual world), digital marketing, or operations like buying tickets or streaming matches. The whole experience of sports, including matches, clubs and mega events like the World Cup; will need to incorporate more and more digital options to keep up with today’s reality.
Digital currencies in traditional sports
Beyond the obvious practicality of digital currencies for e-sports (with a 33% compound annual growth rate and a $1 billion market) and games (a $140-billion industry), where every interaction and transaction is carried out virtually and cryptocurrencies seem to be the perfect fit; it’s time to explore the need to incorporate digital currencies and payments in traditional sports.
Especially when you take into account the size of such market. Let’s take soccer, for example: more than four billion visitors soccer fans globally — roughly half the world’s population — at the last FIFA World Cup spent 12 billion USD.
Whenever there’s a big sports event, like the Olympics or the World Cup, a community is formed by all of those who are involved or attending. Even though these people come from very different parts of the World and have little in common in their regular lives; they will share the same set of needs for a period of time.
Attendees, organizers and players from China will bring Renminbi. Those from Germany will bring Euro; while those from Argentina will bring their weakening currency, the peso. And they will all need to pay for food, accommodation, tickets and entertainment.
Historically, the options available in this case haven’t been very convenient, because they’re not built to satisfy the needs of a truly global community with thousands of members from all over the world. Not only are they expensive, slow, and impractical; Some countries are even excluded entirely from global payment systems, or are just unable to enjoy the benefits, because their currency is weak and the conversion is too expensive.
Advantages of digital currencies in multitudinous sports events
For customers and fans:
- They can easily pay using their smartphones, avoiding the risks of carrying cash
- They avoid credit card fees
- They avoid foreign exchange markups
- They can protect their purchasing power, no matter the status of their home currency
- Thanks to the Blockchain technology, the fees and prices of payments are very low
For partners and merchants:
- They also enjoy low transaction fees
- They get instant settlements
- The convenience of digital transaction will attract more customers, who will feel safe when buying/paying
- They can connect with sports fans even before and after the event.
So, not only is crypto now used for gambling and betting, but it also serves for creating tighter, more directly served communities — TechTalks
Slowly but surely, digital currencies and blockchain technology are introducing new “democracy-focused systems” into sports. Take the Italian club Juventus, which developed its own digital token and offered it to their supporters for $2.22 per coin. Owning the coin would allow fans to participate in club-related decisions. Portuguese football club Benfica also introduced the option to buy the tickets for the match using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether and Utrust tokens.
Digital currencies seem like a perfect tool to improve and modernize the huge machine that is the Sports industry. But first, they need to be embraced by all parties; and this is where stability could be a key factor for mass adoption.
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