Jun 22, 2021
How NFTs are transforming the sports industry?
Blockchain acquired immense publicity in the wake of bitcoin’s success and showed no signs of slowing down. In this rapidly evolving blockchain development, NFTs are on the rise as the tokens are limited in their digital scarcity. NFTs bridge assets across different collectibles industries like arts, music, sports, gaming to blockchain technology.
While multiple factors have led to the rise of blockchain, the advent of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and fan tokens is now driving professional sports growth across the globe. Let’s have a deep dive into what exactly are NFTs and how their impacts are rippling throughout the sports industry.
What are NFTs?
NFTs are uniquely created digital assets stored on a blockchain, representing various tangible or intangible collectibles, from sports highlights to virtual real estate and digital art. The distinguishable information on NFTs is easily verifiable and remains un-interchangeable.
Every minted NFT can be traced back to the original issuer using the blockchain platform of created NFTs. Hence, it removes the need for third-party verification and offers a ready-built audit trail for authentication purposes.
How are NFTs reshaping the face of the sports industry?
NFTs exhibit a transformative approach towards the sports industry in the following ways.
- Fan token and engagement
NFTs, find a unique application in the form of fan tokens in the sports industry. These fungible utility tokens offer access to fans and can influence certain decisions undertaken by sports teams, VIP rewards and promotional activities. Unlike NFTs, fan tokens are exchangeAble and tradeable. These tokens resemble the trading capabilities of cryptocurrency. Fan tokens are in great demand because owners of these tokens can influence certain club matters like the selection of uniforms, valuable players, etc. - Athletes launching own digital platforms
Athletes are also not behind in driving the innovative NFTs to become their media platforms. The small and large unions of players have contributed to monetizing the stars apart from their teams. Also, different marketing ventures have joined hands to collaborate with unions representing athletes associated with different games. - NBA Top Shot featuring “Moment.”
One significant example of a digital collectible is a “Moment” sold under the NBA Top Shot platform. Moments comprises a video clip of players making a play like a shot, steal, dunk or block, and key players stats located in proprietary file format. It is possible to purchase the moments in “packs’ directly from NBA Top Shot and then sell or trade individually like traditional basketball or baseball cards. These moments are completely digitized and stored in software wallets. Hence, fans of all major sports get the ability to buy, collect, sell, and trade digital collectibles secured by NFTs. - Incorporating physical goods with digital tokens
NFTs are playing a crucial role in driving the sports businesses. Most sneakers manufacturing companies like Nike patent a method using NFT to verify products’ authenticity, also known as cryptokicks. On buying a pair of cryptokicks, the customers receive a digital token that ensures the authenticity of shoes while moving from buyer to buyer. - Linking computer games to NFTs
Linking computer games to NFTs also provides interesting possibilities. For football games like Sorare, players take on the role of managers for buying and selling footballers for their items. NFTs also help strengthen the partnership with various clubs, which allow the platforms to offer players of those teams for sale in the game. - Memorabilia
The history of ownership brings about significant value for all collectibles. As NFTs offers a great level of transparency, assets, it offers easy verification of ownership. The generation of value through the gameplay and the in-game economy requires careful design and balanced games.
The market value of any digital collectible depends upon the willingness of the next owner to pay for it. Building partnerships with official sporting leagues reduce the competitive nature of digital collectibles platforms. When digital collectibles are secured with NFTs, the risks associated with copying and counterfeiting attacks are tremendously lowered.
Exploring and blending NFTs within the sports industry has helped create digital marketplaces where sports fans easily connect with their favorite players outside the game. The trending signs are witnessing the gradual change in digital sports collectibles, but the time is no farther for the market to continue its growth with no peak in sight.
