Crypto and Sports
Crypto and sports are a match made in heaven.
While early supporters focused on the payments side of cryptocurrencies, one of the most intensive digital asset adoption is taking place in the sports industry today.
In addition to fan tokens that empower sports lovers with the ability to engage with their favorite teams and influence their decisions, a great number of well-known athletes have praised crypto and adopted digital assets in some way.
From the football pitch of the NFL to the basketball court of the NBA and the stadiums of soccer leagues, crypto keeps building awareness and exposure to new users and market. A humble inception of simple sponsorship deals to create brand awareness for crypto exchanges and payment platforms have soared into an increased awareness of crypto among viewers and a global recognition and alliance between sports and cryptocurrency.
In the sports industry, cryptocurrencies are becoming extremely popular.
Since early 2020, many clubs have launched their fan tokens to leverage the power of blockchain technology to empower their supporters with the right to decide on various matters concerning a team and its players.
While this allowed clubs to convert passive spectators into active and engaged fans, these digital assets provide an extra source of revenue for sports teams.
FC Barcelona, the widely successful and popular European soccer team, is one of the many football clubs that have launched their fan tokens in 2020.
Here comes the NFTs
One cryptocurrency spin-off that has gained momentum in the sports industry is the NFT.
As a quick recap, NFTs - non-fungible tokens are rare and irreplaceable blockchain-powered digital assets that are limited in supply. While they can represent anything from art and memorabilia to in-game items and digital identity, NFTs can be easily authenticated and traced on the blockchain, offering real ownership for their holders.
In addition to growing to a multi-billion-dollar size, NFTs were embraced by an exponentially surging number of traders, collectors, and investors, and many well-known artists, celebrities, athletes, and billionaires have launched their non-fungible tokens.
In the past, one-of-kind collectibles and memorabilia have lucky fans bragging rights over their friends and fellow supporters. The emergence of NFTs has converted this to a digital domain where fans can acquire, trade and flaunt valuable NFTs on blockchain-powered marketplaces and platforms.
Now a lot of sports teams, players and fans have embraced NFTs.
Aside from sponsorships and partnership deal, Fan tokens, and NFTs, cryptocurrencies have been incorporated and accepted as methods of payment in the sports industry. Where implemented they allow fans to purchase tickets and merchandise and for clubs to pay players’ salaries and transfer fees.
It’s very true that the crypto currency’s are extremely creating awareness of this project as they even tried to become Barcelona’s shirt sponsor but they couldn’t.