From diversifying day-to-day transactions to creating a decentralized asset base, cryptos have thus far been good news to many individuals and industries alike. In the world of Sports, these digital assets have been instrumental in some pretty significant ways. According to CryptoSlate, the value of sports blockchain currencies closing in on $3 billion.
Making a ton of discoveries, let’s take a closer look at the most significant additions and changes that cryptocurrency is already making to the global sports landscape.
Blockchain technology: Sports Crypto Assets and Fundraising
Gil Penchina, Vice President at eBay – “Mobile was Internet 2.0. It changed everything. Crypto is Internet 3.0”
As hinted earlier, sports-facilitated Cryptocurrencies are presently breaking bounds. These are essentially digital assets, facilitated by sports leagues, clubs, and even athletes alongside fans to build a community of value. In other words, sports crypto assets allow sportsmen and organizations to raise funds by getting fans to buy shares in their crypto projects.
On the fan end, digital tokens facilitated by blockchain in sports are an opportunity to hold digital assets, backed by their favorite sports teams and athletes. Ultimately, sports cryptos are a big deal due to the fundraising purpose they serve to the facilitators as well as the investment avenue they bring the fans.
Furthermore, according to several crypto monitoring platforms, here are some of the most valuable sports fan tokens in the vast blockchain market currently;
- Paris Saint Germain Fan Token
- Portugal National Team Fan Token
- FC Barcelona Fan Token
- Inter Milan Fan Token
Sports Betting Diversified
The sports betting industry in Bangladesh is so far, about the strongest hold of Blockchain technology in sports. With the growing acceptance of cryptos as a major means of exchange and transactions at bookmarkers, these currencies are said to be revolutionizing the industry. Just over a few years ago, most bettors had no experience on how to use Bitcoin for sports betting. Today, bettors from emerging sports betting markets like Bangladesh, are all too familiar with using cryptos for wagers.
According to Mighty Tips, a sports betting resource platform, the number of leading bookmakers that have embraced crypto betting is on the rise. On discovering its numerous Betting guides by Kate Richardson, we’ve created the list of Bangladeshi betting sites, to further underline the extent of crypto betting in the region.
Fun Fact: The maximum number of bitcoins is still 21 million, but it is now estimated that the last bitcoin will be mined in 2040.
Crypto Enterprise Sponsorships
Francis Suarez, Mayor of Miami – “Every time I would tweet something about crypto it would go viral”.
One of the most significant revenue streams in the global sporting endeavor is sponsorships and partnerships. And lately, due to the intentional relationship between crypto and sporting enterprises, we’ve seen a rise in sponsor deals and partnerships between these two.
According to some recently published statistics, a surprising 84 contracts were signed between crypto firms and sporting clubs in 2021, during the bull market boom. The nature of these contracts featured ad placements, renamed arenas, brand logo placements, etc.
In all, it is safe to say that the rise of Blockchain use cases in sports has bred a newfound financial partnership between the two industries.
NFTs and Athlete Asset fan tokens
Jack Conte, CEO of Patreon – “What I will say about crypto and NFTs, in general, is I really love the idea of creators owning their media and owning their content“.
Tokenization is one unique way that blockchain assets and processes could heavily influence world sports, given a little time. That is because athlete assets, such as signature moves, images, avatars and even autographs can now be modeled into digital tokens such as NFTs.
These tokens, with the right marketing avenues, can generate some serious commercial value to support athletes and sports organizations at large.
Tokenization is already in vogue in other major industries, especially in music entertainment. However, a good example in sports is the famous Ronaldo NFT Collection in partnership with Binance in 2022. The tokens reportedly sold for tens of thousands of dollars each. With tokenization there is so much to look forward to in different spheres such as entertainment, sports, and many more.
Future Outlook and Possibilities blockchain technology in Sports
Since traditional methods are still very much relevant in the current global sports industry, crypto’s involvement still has a lot of potential to offer. Chief among which is the potential to streamline world sporting operations, reduce cost, and facilitate better fan engagement platforms.
Also, cryptos are already facilitating a unique financial system that is available to all with internet access. This can be replicated in sports, to a certain extent, with the encouragement of increased participation.
Fun Fact: As of October 2022, there were more than 18,000 different Cryptocurrencies in existence. However, not every one of them is tradable in major exchanges, and some require their own wallets.
Alas, with the huge potential of crypto in sports comes certain irregularities, risks, and challenges to consider. First of, the statutory and recently increasing volatile nature of cryptocurrency can pose a significant threat to the stability of sports crypto assets.
Also, since the regulations surrounding crypto processes are still very tender, sporting organizations must constantly navigate legal frameworks. Also, many blockchain company sponsors are more heavily scrutinized by sports leagues and organizations to reach agreements.
In summary, cryptocurrency and its related products are doing a lot to rewrite sporting operations, financially and otherwise. From offering athletes an opportunity to tokenize and monetize their images and peculiarities, to forming a major base of sponsors for sporting events and teams, crypto in sports is now highly pronounced.
Given the extreme volatility and regulatory inconsistencies plaguing its widespread use, cryptocurrency has still found its way into the operations of several industries. And as it stands these digital assets are still pitched by experts to be instrumental in the future of global sports.
