Deloitte anticipates a rise in blockchain-enabled innovation. As a result, “The usage of NFTs and crypto, fan tokens and ticket innovations will grow.”
The most popular blockchain use case is Bitcoin ( BTC), which demonstrates the technology’s ability to deliver an immutable, truly decentralized ledger in the 13 years. In addition to the many innovations that have taken place since then, such as the introduction of cryptocoins and non-fungible tokens(NFT), decentralized finance (“DeFi”), and others, a Deloitte study highlighted the potential of the crypto community to create new markets for the sport industry.
To increase fan engagement through collectibles, voting mechanisms and fan tokens, NFTs and fan tokens were introduced to the sports sector for the first time. Deloitte is one of the Big 4 accounting companies and sees the industry embracing blockchain technology and crypto in the future.
“Sports collectibles, betting, ticketing and gaming will all become a nexus. We are only beginning to see the potential of [cryptocurrency] and the potential new markets it might lead to.
Deloitte’s 2022 Sports Industry Outlook highlights upcoming trends in the industry. It expects a rise in blockchain-enabled innovation as a result. “The use NFTs and crypto, fan tokens and ticket innovations will grow.”
Deloitte believes that the sports industry will soon be able to link spectators to season tickets via blockchain, “Moving beyond NFTs.” This would be a first step towards this goal, but it would only allow fans to associate game tickets with NFTs in order to reward them. However, smart contracting innovations could open up new uses cases.
“We could see fractional ownership in season tickets and suites, and a reinvention to the ticket resale system.”
Smart contracts simplify the process of dynamic ticket pricing and resales, creating new revenue streams for teams and sports organizers. Deloitte highlighted four factors that must be addressed by the ecosystem, including educating fans, implementing new standards and ensuring compliance with tax and tax implications.
Deloitte’s research also revealed that NFTs have helped to merge the virtual and physical worlds of sports. It predicts that there will be over $2 billion in NFT transactions related to sports in 2022.
The finserv suggested that sports organizations pay attention to the NFT boom’s impact on other sectors, such as gaming.
Basketball Forever, an Australian media company, recently launched Hoop Hounds to support Deloitte’s report on the growing NFT trend in the sports industry. This NFT project was designed to increase fan engagement and real-world utility of the tokens.
Alex Sumsky, founder of Basketball Forever, agreed with Deloitte when he said to Cointelegraph that the technology was more than just a token attached to a JPG. It allows organizations to offer innovative ways to increase fan engagement and provide real utility to the fans.
Basketball Forever will offer 8,888 “hounds” that represent different NBA and basketball personalities as animated canines. Each one has its own unique traits and is rare.