Many people believe that cryptocurrencies should be pretty much everywhere all over the world, however, when asked about the sports industry, almost nobody has a direct answer.
Some say that changing fiat money to cryptocurrencies is a way into sports, but others say that monetising teams is the perfect approach. Well, there are more than enough examples of how cryptocurrencies managed to enter the sports sector and we’re here today to discuss them.
Some may already be aware of the blockchain platform facilitating democracy in sports. Things such as voting on the team’s next uniform, or the song they would sing after scoring a goal or winning a championship.
In the past, it was usually just one group of people that would start the trend and spread it across the whole country, eventually reaching the whole world. This kind of culture is, of course, very positive but unbalanced. This is why blockchain technology entered the industry: to bring more balance and the ability to express oneself for their favourite team.
In this article, I will focus mostly on football rather than any other sport, simply because football is the most popular. So, without further ado, let’s begin.
Participation in club-related decisions
As already mentioned at the beginning of the article, cryptocurrencies and blockchain, in general, introduced a very democracy-focused system into sports. This was confirmed when Juventus, a popular Italian football club developed its own digital token and offered it to their supporters for $2.22 per coin.
Owning the coin would allow fans to participate in club-related decisions. Things such as celebration mechanics, focusing on future transfers, new uniforms, theme songs and etc. There were quite a lot of things to decide on.
These types of “club coins” would drive a lot more community activity, which we all know is the life source of football clubs. In the past, there used to be some gifts to devoted fans, but now the spectrum has changed completely.
Choosing random fans attending the match, rewarding those who participate most, and generally helping the club coin circulate among the community would help drive a lot more initiative and even attract some non-fans to the club as well.
Although it’s somewhat a marketing strategy, it’s still an effective tool to introduce cryptocurrencies to the industry.
Added perks through crypto
A major addition to the sports industry are the perks that come with crypto. For example, there are multiple occasions where a sports service provider offers some unique features to those who pay with cryptocurrencies.
Remember the whole scandal bout using XRP as the main currency during the Olympics? That’s one of the best examples of these added crypto features in sports. Those who pay with cryptocurrencies would receive better seats or additional benefits, simply because the crypto community wants the technology to grow.
There is no bigger audience than sports as a whole, therefore, using it as a marketing tool is an amazing opportunity.
Also, it’s said that cryptocurrencies are starting to become a perfect tool for responsible gambling and betting. There have been dozens of cases where online gaming platforms would offer either discounts or money-back guarantees if people used cryptocurrencies. Naturally, this is also a marketing ploy, but getting people used to more responsible gaming is an amazing venture.
One of the main examples of this method is fantasy football, which assigns cryptocurrencies to various team members and offers discounts if the coins match with the players’ team. Should there be coins for every team available nowadays, the classification would be much easier and smoother.
All these companies are saying is that, as long as the financial sector is taken care of, they are willing to implement the right features on the platforms.
Having a gaming industry with an actually stable moral compass would change the sports industry forever.
Other than these two features, crypto in sports is still in its infancy, waiting for companies and clubs to take the initial steps towards innovation.
