The appearance of Bitcoin in 2008 was a turning point in the financial industry. As the number of people using cryptocurrencies has grown over the years, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have firmly gained a foothold in various industries and sports has been no exception. Nowadays a lot of sports clubs are adopting cryptocurrencies as a way of payment and it has become one of the most demanded methods of paying football or stars or purchasing various items. Why crypto has become so popular? Let’s have a look at notable examples and cases in the world of cryptocurrencies.
Crypto is Safe
No one would have imagined that crypto would reach the heights that it has now. Because of its safety and security compared to traditional methods, it is widely considered to be a safer method. Every transaction is kept in blockchain, and it is impossible to forge these transactions in any possible way. Because of that, Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency can be used safely. There are also no problems with hacking.
Crypto Sponsorships in Sports
As more and more cryptocurrency brands are emerging, they sign partnerships with different sports teams and individuals. One of the most notable examples we can discover in the English Premier league, where crypto bookmakers started sponsoring teams like Arsenal and Watford. Southampton were also one of such teams. There are other examples in hockey and the NFL as well. Cryptocurrency has improved rapidly and has become one of the fastest-growing sponsorship category in sports.
Research Shows that More People Engage in Crypto
Accordion to recent researches, mainly conducted in the United States and United Kingom, more and more people embrace cryptos – especially the older generation, those who have little information about the perks of cryptocurrency. These also helps businesses to fund more sports teams and athletes. We can certainly mention Israel Adesanya – a prominent UFC fighter, who is in deal with one of the most famous crypto bookmaker.
Payment in Crypto
In recent years hockey started a tendency where one of the players decided to receive salary in cryptos. After that followed numerous athletes in the NBA and football. For example, Lionel Messi received a part of his salary in cryptocurrencies. Messi is no the only one however.
In addition, teams in the NBA, NFL started adopting cryptocurrencies as a way of payment. The Dallas Mavericks alongside the Sacramento Kings were one of the first teams that started following this trend. In European football, Juventus started issuing fan tokens. Benfica also decided to use cryptocurrencies for purchasing various items and tickets to attend matches.
It is only a small list of clubs and organizations where crypto is becoming widely accepted. We can note that this tendency is going to continue in the future and show no signs of slowing down.
NFT – a new word in the sports
Another phenomenon from the world of blockchain technologies that began to take over the world of sports is the so-called NFT tokens, which are issued according to a mechanics similar to cryptocurrency. These “non-fungible tokens” allow you to acquire the right (or certificate) to own certain items, copies of different objects, issued by well-known companies or people. The NFT mechanism is quite simple.
NFT cards are already being created in the same NBA basketball league, and the UFC has recently announced their release. The NBA digitizes some moments from the games through blockchains, and the fans, buying NFT, get the opportunity to “own the rights” at that moment, receiving the corresponding card. The NBA Top Shot app offers cards starting at $9. NFT platforms allow fans to see the most important moments of the games, and not the whole game, and own the rights to some episodes, buy them, sell them through the blockchain. This, for example, can be a block-shot remembered from games or a passage.
NFT platforms and cards are also developing in football. More than 100 football teams of the world are currently cooperating with different platforms. These platforms also offer to buy NFT cards with certain moments from real games and get rights to them, and also gives the opportunity to play a separate game where you can create a virtual football team. The platforms also periodically issues player cards, the value of which may increase after the purchase of cards, if, for example, in real football, the player has noted effective actions.
Some of the most expensive cards in the world are tokens from the world of baseball, the most popular game in the United States. Now you can even buy them on ebay, and their price significantly exceeds the tokens from football. The all-time NFT card sale in the world of baseball was the signature token of 1950s New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle. The token went for $ 5.2 million.
