As all crypto markets are defined by their bull and bear phases, and the value of tokens at different points in time, fleeting trends also come and go. Metaverses. Memecoins. NFTs. Decentralized IDs.
In the case of non-fungible tokens, the perihelion was undoubtedly the sale, in March 2021, of the Everydays art collage for $69.3 million at Christie’s. Four and a half years on, the august auction house has quietly closed its specialist digital art division, a reflection of diminished interest in the collectibles.
Today, there are a few contenders for the ‘hottest narrative in crypto’, one of them being IP-based protocols – the sort that enables intellectual property to be tokenized and tracked to drive fan engagement. The sports world is making the early running here, with a number of IP-based protocols finding favor among fans of soccer, basketball, and cricket.
Blockchain and Sports: A Perfect Match?
If you’ve watched a Premier League football match lately, you’ve probably noticed a hoarding advertising a crypto company – blockchain.com, Kraken, Tezos. In fact, multiple clubs boast an official crypto trading partner, with names like OKX and BingX adorning players’ shirt sleeves.
All of which is to say that partnerships and sponsorship deals between global sports brands and leading Web3 companies, are nothing new. Hell, the LA Lakers – arguably the world’s best-known basketball team – play at the Crypto.com Arena.
Those deals are about brand recognition, of course, proving that trading platforms aren’t shy about flexing in a bid to win over mainstream users. But as far as the actual synergies between blockchain and sports are concerned, they are plentiful. And IP-based protocols are doing wonders for fan engagement through things like fan tokens and dApps.
A perfect example is Sweet, a Web3 platform that has licensing agreements with both the National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Soccer (MLS), both of whom deploy “innovative gamified blockchain collectible experiences on Sweet to drive new revenue streams and fan engagement.”
The ultimate ambition of Sweet is to improve the way leagues and athletes interact with fans and vice versa. The platform has already rolled out fun, skill-based sports mini games, with players issued a SCOR-ID to ensure a verifiable ‘footprint’ of their activities. In this way, leagues and teams can identify their most committed fans.
Recently, Sweet joined forces with TON Foundation to release sports-themed sticker packs inside Telegram’s FUSE Sticker store, with the inaugural release focused on cricket’s greatest spin bowlers. While that isn’t headline-making news on its own, the kicker is that these digital collectibles have in-game utility, triggering power-ups and enhancing gameplay in the aforementioned mini games. Thus, the sticker packs are perfectly situated at the intersection of blockchain, gaming, and sports fandom.
Sweet’s vision goes beyond digital ownership, creating a means by which engagement can be recorded and hardcore supporters compensated. With interactions documented on users’ SCOR-ID, the prospect of earning meaningful rewards like signed memorabilia, tickets, and exclusive experiences becomes very real.
Needless to say, Sweet has its own digital token in the form of $SCOR, which powers its sports games on Telegram, 44% of its supply ring-fenced for things like in-game incentives and rewards.
The Future of Fandom
The Web3 tech stack is vying to be the technological engine of fandom’s future, with a combination of blockchain and NFTs empowering supporters to load up on digital characters and playable assets tied to real sports action. It’s an intriguing proposition, and it’s telling that the big sports leagues have already given their seal of approval. Whether you’re a gamer, collector, or just a sports fan looking to show support, now’s a good time to plug in and see what all the fuss is about.