Cryptocurrencies and sport have continued to collide in 2021 with synergies between the two proving to be fruitful on a number of fronts.The relati
Cryptocurrencies and sport have continued to collide in 2021 with synergies between the two proving to be fruitful on a number of fronts.
The relationship between the sports world and the various applications of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology has slowly been expanding over the past few years. Humble beginnings of simple sponsorships building early brand awareness for exchanges and payment platforms have snowballed into worldwide recognition and collaboration between the sectors, with 2021 seeing a variety of different use cases come to the fore.
From the basketball courts of the NBA to the soccer fields of Europe, crypto continues to build exposure to new users and markets. In this New Years Special, Cointelegraph highlights the ever-growing relationship between crypto and sport through 2021.
Here comes the NFTs
Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have become a household word over the past 12 months. The entertainment industry has been at the forefront of this expansion with artists, musicians, celebrities, brands, institutions and content creators diving headfirst into the NFT craze to serve fans and collectors their own unique digital collectibles.
Sports have always been a mainstay of the entertainment industry, serving up unrivaled and unscripted moments that leave an indelible mark on fans around the world.
In the past, one-of-a-kind collectibles and memorabilia gave lucky fans bragging rights over their friends and family. 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.
The NBA has blazed the trail in this regard, turning video highlights from season games into NFT collectibles that have generated hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue through the NBA Top Shot platform. The most expensive NBA Top Shot NFT, a legendary card featuring a dunk from Lebron James, sold for a mind-boggling $230,000 back in October 2020. Those numbers are not to be scoffed at. And it only got better in 2021.
The world of American Football has also entered the space at both a player and team level. Tom Brady has written himself into the NFL history books and has become a commanding figure in the business and entertainment world as a bi-product of his success on the field.
He made headlines in April, launching his very own NFT marketplace called Autograph. The platform has onboarded the biggest names in American sports, as well as influential figures from the world of Hollywood’s actors, musicians and other entertainment figures to mint and sell unique digital collectibles.
We’re talking about the likes of golf great Tiger Woods, sprint sensation Usain Bolt, skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, United States gymnast Simone Biles and, of course, Brady himself, all offering their own unique NFTs to collectors around the world.
Coming next week on @Autograph: I’ve retired five signature tricks, offering them in a collection that will last forever. Here is one that I recently did for the last time: varial 540. This trick has caused me many whiplashes over 30 years but I had to see it through. @DraftKings pic.twitter.com/iK6T2vtTex
— Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) December 8, 2021
Brady’s long-time NFL partner in crime Rob Gronkowski set the bar high with his own Championship Series NFT digital trading card auction before the launch of Autograph. The series consisted of four unique “GRONK Career Highlight Refractor Card,” each of which had 87 digital editions on sale, while a fifth stand-alone Career Highlight card was the prize card of the lot.
The auction lasted two days and saw a total of 349 trading cards sold at auction, as well as the one-off Career Highlight card to 95 different owners. The total trading value of the auction was 1,014 Ether (ETH) valued at $1.8 million at the time of the sale. Gronk went on to join Autograph to launch other NFTs.
English boxer Tyson Fury established himself as the best heavyweight in recent times after another crushing defeat of Deontay Wilder in October. Following that success, the burly British boxer launched his own NFT which was auctioned off for $987,000.
In Europe, Sorare has established itself as a notable player in the football NFT and fantasy sports space. The Ethereum-powered marketplace facilitates the minting and trade of NFTs that have been hugely popular among football fans. Users can buy and trade digital player cards that reflect their real-life player’s performances. Collectors can build a five-man team made up of their digital player cards that compete in fantasy leagues.
Socios is the other major player in the world of European football NFTs, digital trading cards and collectibles. The platform allows clubs to issue fan tokens on its proprietary blockchain that allows fans to vote on club decisions like kit changes, access exclusive content and get involved in other community activities. In 2021, Socios has sold $250 million worth of fan tokens since its…
cointelegraph.com