We will not spend too much time defining NFTS or Metaverse as per their lawful definitions. You can of course search on Google, look at Wikipedia or industry experts' definitions explaining the words in entirety.
Let's jump to NFTS in our sports sector straight, some of the leading sports experts feel that they can solve real-world problems. Just ask Daryl Morey, president of basketball operations for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, who says, “I just moved from Houston to Philly, I had to move 10,000 comics. I had to move all of my wall art. I had to move all of this and with digital stuff you just move it. It’s definitely superior. And it’s the start of a major, major trend which is about to shape the industry differently.
Yes there are a plenty of integrations of these digital tokens ranging from smart ticketing in the sports sector to extended reality fan engagement but If we closely analyse major chunks of the sports industry considering something like a sports collectible, It’s quite comprehensible that they are a natural application of NFTs, NBA Top Shot being a pioneer has already started dominating the market, a platform where people can collect NFTs of officially licensed video highlights. Selling for $387k, the most expensive Top Shot was a clip of a LeBron James highlight where he emulates a famous Kobe Bryant dunk. Likewise, Autograph, a Tom Brady-backed start-up, is an up-and-coming NFT platform that has partnered with big names, such as Tiger Woods, Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles and this is just the start of the trend amongst American athletes and shall be seen very soon
Industry experts and some reports predict that NFTs for sports media will generate more than US$2 billion in transactions in 2022, about double the figure for 2021, which basically means that 4–5 million sports fans globally will have purchased or been gifted an NFT sports collectible. One of the most interesting and often the most debatable topics still remains the pricing of these NFT’s. The way I understand the business scale cycles of the sports sector ideally the value of each NFT should depend on the prominence of the athlete, the significance of the event, any additional content included within the NFT, the exclusivity which offered by directly by the athlete/federation/representer and of course the fan surge demand.
There are other developments within the sports sector which NFTS plan to oust in the coming years, The state of affairs which I’m updated with I can surely commit will see many upcoming launches within this year only.
Gaming and nfts
Let’s talk about the most successfully conceptualised project in recent times. This new model for gaming touted by crypto enthusiasts is “play to earn.” Players play games to earn NFT items that can be sold on marketplaces for higher prices. These items can often be used to achieve a higher performance in the game. One of the most prominent instances of the model is Axie Infinity, people are quitting their job to play the game full-time, and merchants now accept SLP as currency.
Why I feel this is going to stay and not expire like any other social media trend is because NFTs can be integrated into the gaming world by allowing NFT cross-platform playability. NFTs give game developers another way to expand their brand and create another revenue stream, while gamers are given more incentive to keep playing a game if they already own characters or items within it, hence it’s a win-win on both sides of the graph.
This opens up all kinds of possibilities in the gaming sector like never before purchasing weapons or other equipment. The way I see this inside-game purchasing consumerism moving the numbers, we should not be surprised to see the trade digits shooting 5x within the next two years.
Having a look at how it can help the sports community in large ? Sports NFTs for charity
One more great way to employ NFTs in sport is fundraising for charity. Teams and team members can create various NFTs and give the money to charity. I feel if the federations try to promote this culture and introduce some inventive movement it can surely be a success story. This brings benefits to all parties. The athletes do good things and become more popular – the fans can buy their desired NFTs – vulnerable members of society get help.
