Web3 in Sports Month: October 2022

At SportsTechX we’re known for our in-depth research into the latest trends in the SportsTech ecosystem. If you haven’t yet, you can take a look at some of our content here.

One trend we’ve been follow especially closely is the emergence of NFTs & Web3 in Sports. Our weekly newsletter Nifty Sports has been tracking the space since March 2021.

A lot has been said & written on this topic and yet we’ve barely scratched the surface. Simply because we’re right at the start of the Web3 revolution and NFTs have only been the first glimpse of it’s enormous potential.

NFTs in Sports: Highlights

And it’s been quite the glimpse.

• $2.4b invested in Sports related NFT companies in 2021. Just over $1.3b already in 2022, till Sept. Source: SportsTechDB
• Every major sports league has signed an NFT partner, often multiple partners. The biggest to date was the Premier League selecting ConsenSys in deal potentially worth $590m over 4 years. By contrast the Dapper Labs deals with the NBA & NFL are said to be worth around $20m / year. And now, it’s possible that this deal will be re-negotiated in the face of a Crypto-winter. Up one day and down the next.
• A clear big 5 has emerged of Dapper Labs, Candy Digital, Sorare, Animoca Brands & Autograph. These names are spearheading the market but there are so many other innovative solutions and use cases — in collectibles, ticketing, gaming, virtual merchandise to name a few — that warrant further exploration.

And that’s just NFTs but there’s been so much more happening in the Web3 space that deserves attention and analysis.

Web3 in Sports: Recent News

A quick look at some of the biggest recent stories, all of which raised their own questions:

• Socios.com investing $100m in Barca Studios to accelerate a Web3 strategy. Was it really wise of a legacy brand to cash-in this early?
• Post takeover by a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) WAGMI United, Crawley Town FC, an English Football League 2 club. So onto the Premier League then?
• The Serie A broadcast AC-Milan 1–0 Fiorentina live in a metaverse environment. Is this really where we’re going to watch sports?
• World Table Tennis signed a multi-year Web3 deal with NFT Technologies, creators of the very successful Australian Open Art Ball NFTs, covering fan engagement, collectibles, metaverse and gaming innovations. One-stop-shop service providers the way to go?
• The MLS is working on a blockchain based Play-to-Earn game that follows the fantasy sports gaming format. How will changing regulations around ‘NFTs as securities’ affect gaming models?
• Multiple well funded sports metaverse have been launched where users can buy land and access to a community of sports fans. Who is really paying for this party?

…we could go on.

Web3 in Sports Month + Web3 in Sports Report

There are so many interesting & contrasting conversations to be had in this dynamic space. And we believe it warrants a deep dive.

The month of October will be Web3 in Sports Month at SportsTechX. Every week, all our content channels will publish content on this topic

• Weekly Podcasts: with investors, top startups & thought leaders in the space
• Top Web3 in Sports content for the week: aggregating recent articles, events or Web3 in Sports news stories
• Articles by Team STX and Guest authors: covering specific topics such as NFT Ticketing, Smart Contracts, Blockchain based Sports Betting and so on.

All of this will culminate in a first of it’s kind Web3 in Sports Report, likely to be published in November 2022.

This will include:

Introduction to Web3 in Sports: A broad view of this new, emerging technology and it’s global implications.

Data Driven Analysis: Breaking down the investments in NFT & Web3 solutions

• By year, geography & sectors
• Highlighting top funded companies
• Summarising sales trend for the biggest NFT projects

Examination of Web 3 use cases across 4 main areas

• Fungible Tokens: Fan tokens, currencies
• Non-Fungible Tokens: NFTs use cases as Collectibles, Tickets, Gaming Tools and others
• Metaverse & Virtual worlds
• DAOs and Alternative ownership models

There are other topics that we might cover beyond these such as Blockchain gaming, Digital Assets etc. but they will be in less detail, so as to not overload the reader.

Showcasing Case studies of successful Web3 launches to highlight industry best practices

Looking ahead: Upcoming trends and new applications of Web3 technologies in Sports

And other relevant areas that we come across during the research.

Get In Touch

We are always interested in bringing on good partners for our content, to help drive the conversation.

There are commercial packages available so feel free reach out on rishabh@sportstechx.com if you want to know more about the report or even would just like to connect on what is happening in the space.

Rohn Malhotra is a Co-Founder at Berlin based SportsTechX — Data & insights about SportsTech startups and the surrounding ecosystem. You can get in touch via LinkedIn or email.