With news of the rapid development of blockchain technology, sports leagues such as the National Hockey League (NHL), National Football League (NFL), and Major League Baseball (MLB) will be able to leverage various NFT projects to build a comprehensive NFT ecosystem and achieve never before seen business results and economic benefits, while enriching fandom and athlete interactions.
This new crypto-based digital content is having a significant influence in a variety of industries, including gaming, arts, entertainment, music, and the multibillion-dollar sports business. NFTs in sports have been dubbed “the future of digital assets in sports,” with hundreds of sports NFTs available on worldwide web platforms. While there is still much distance to cover, sports fans throughout the world have a lot to look forward to.
Locker Token leverages this technology to provide sports NFTs to fans, teams, and athletes to future proof their brand.
NFTs: Digital Assets For The Sports Fan Of Tomorrow
NFT, or Non-Fungible Token, is a digital asset encrypted by blockchain technology similar to Bitcoin but with some unique characteristics. This means that people can trade them as assets, especially in the secondary market, where such digital assets usually command a premium. The actual tokens can be artwork, a song, or even a virtual sneaker “attached” with certain functionalities attached.
Among other industries, the sports industry is the latest to implement technology in its core business strategy. Just by looking at the atmosphere in the field of sports brands, one can sense how popular NFTs are getting. For example, in 2022, Nike and crypto-based fashion brand RTFKT launched their first Ethereum-based NFT sneakers, digital wearable items designed for use in the metaverse. The line of NFT sneakers sold for resale on the secondary market, selling for up to $130 thousand upon release on the secondary market.
What are Sports NFTs
Sports NFTs are blockchain-created, verifiably unique digital assets that can symbolize digital trading sports cards, live sporting moments, digital memorabilia, and other forms of major sports products. The issuing of sports NFTs provides a new monetization route for players, teams, and sports brands and a new method for fans to engage with their favourite clubs and top athletes. For example, many fans are prepared to spend top dollar for limited edition virtual memorabilia of their favourite hockey team or a rare collector card of their favourite football star. As a result, sport NFTs can sometimes trade for thousands, if not millions, and the value of some of the rarest pieces have skyrocketed.
How Sports NFTs Can Be Used?
Sport NFT Ticketing
Tickets are an important way for NFT to be used. The problem of ticket fraud and the proliferation of fake tickets has long plagued event organizers and participants, and the emergence of NFT can effectively address this challenge. In the NFT ticket purchase process, blockchain data’s open and transparent nature and non-tampering can dispel fans’ worries. In addition, sporting event organizers can also track speculators’ history and transaction prices through the blockchain network. This allows fans to purchase sports tickets in an authentic, official and convenient way while enjoying many exclusive rights.
In addition, clubs or event organizers can innovatively combine sport NFT with virtual real estate. For example, a team could launch a virtual building arena and allow fans to have individual seats in the arena. Seat owners would be entitled to watch exclusive sporting events or make public appearances prior to kickoff. This application will be a potential direction for future sports clubs and athletes to leverage NFT to create further business value.
Captured Moments
Aside from ticketing, NFTs embody the spirit of owning and exchanging collectibles. Sport NFTs provides a brand new way for athletes and teams to monetize their hard efforts on the field through the use of crypto. With sports NFTs, top teams can provide fans with a new way to showcase their love for the sport and team. They offer concrete ways to honor world-class athletes, such as game highlights, moments, and digital player cards. NFTs use technological innovation to provide new opportunities for athletes and fans to form long-term emotional relationships, creating moments that are owned and shared as digital sports memorabilia.
How Are Sports NFTs Valued?
Sports are big community builders. They tie communities closer together and play a very important role in millions of people’s lives. The value of sports NFT mainly comes from mapping the sum of the native value of sports assets, liquidity premium, and fan consensus, so the value of sports NFT cannot be separated from a strong fan base. The most important thing for the development of sports NFT is to get the consensus of the fan base, so a large sports fan base is currently one of the most important factors for the development of sports NFT.
In addition, the value of sports NFT has strong content media properties, and the audience accepts the NFT with the same degree of recognition as real-life IPs. For example, soccer players, basketball players, and other sports stars this kind of real-life characters. The recognition and acceptance of IP and idols by users and fans will attract more capital attention.
Conclusion
Incorporating NFTs with top athletes provides sports fans with a unique opportunity to honour some of the world’s most famous sports stars. These new classes of NFT sports collectibles are more than digital memorabilia; they also function as a type of fan club membership, where owners can access and engage with celebrity players in new and unusual ways and be awarded more collectibles or virtual game goods.
The influence of NFTs has been enormous throughout the years. As the general public adopts crypto, more sports will see the same beneficial impact that NFTs have brought hockey, basketball, and football have seen.
