For a long time, blockchain was just something that technology enthusiasts talked about. However, it is fast becoming a part of sports (as it is with all other industries), and changing the way people interact with their favorite teams. 

But what specifically is it doing to change the way we watch and play sports? Here’s your answer: 

Superior Supply Chain Transparency For Merchandise

One way it is changing things is through superior supply chain transparency for merchandise. Blockchain is making it possible for players and companies to track items as they go through the system, reducing the risk of fraud substantially. 

Companies at the leading edge of these developments are using a form of hybrid technology. The first layer is to apply tamper-proof RFID tags to products or boxes during shipment. These provide recordings of exactly who has interacted with them and their condition, uploading the information to blockchain in the cloud. The second layer is the blockchain itself. This creates an immutable recording of the information sent by the RFID tags and readings as it passes from one part of the supply chain to the next. 

The result of this system is the elimination of fraud. People in the supply chain can’t take real products and replace them with fake ones without that information being recorded. 

The result? The merchandise that fans receive is almost always the real thing. It can’t be adulterated. 

Esports Integration

Another thing we like about blockchain’s effect on sport is esports integration. The idea here is to use tokenization to enhance game economics, allowing almost anyone to participate for a fee. 

What’s nice about blockchain in this instance is that it makes things fair and gives everyone a stake. Tokenized rewards mean that players get back what they put in, making the gaming experience more competitive and enjoyable. 

Moreover, blockchain also verifies tournament outcomes. It’s impossible for players to miss entries or cheat when decisions are automated and stored. 

Many games like Axie Infinity are already doing this. These are making use of blockchain in new and interesting ways.

Athlete Tokenization

Another change being made possible by crypto technology is athlete tokenization. The idea here is to turn the athlete’s personal brand into something that regular fans can invest in for the future. 

The best way to think of this is by analogy to stocks. When a company wants to raise funds at an IPO, it will sell shares of equity to the public. It then promises to pay a dividend or simply buy back shares in the future to raise the value of those that remain. 

An athlete could essentially do the same with their money-making activities. They could sell tokens today to raise cash and then invest that in adjacent activities, like selling merch. Fans would then get payments, similar to dividends. 

This concept is still quite new, so it isn’t entirely clear how it might play out in practice. However, it is exciting and something that a lot of players are interested in right now, simply because of what it means for their personal finances. 

Streaming Content Monetization

Blockchain also has the potential to decentralize streaming to the point where fans only pay directly for the content they consume (similar to old-fashioned pay-per-view matches). Again, this sort of approach is possible because of the tokenization of crypto. Fans can simply pay in whatever units they want. 

The value of this approach is that it would essentially cut out the middleman. Right now, streamline services and distribution platforms get in the way of a true direct-to-consumer model. However, that all changes with a secure payment and contract system, like blockchain. Companies could simply use the blockchain itself to enforce the contract, cutting off view time when the money runs out. 

Crypto-based sports streaming is already a reality in some quarters, and it is spreading fast. Theta Network is trialling it, along with various other websites and competitors. 

Fantasy Sports And Betting

What about fantasy sports and betting? How is crypto changing that?

The main way it is making changes is by creating tamper-proof systems. Every party involved in the bet can be 100% confident that nobody is manipulating it. 

Setups like this might sound trite because of the sheer abundance of tennis betting sites. However, it would essentially give players total confidence in the platforms they were using, and would reduce incentives for anyone to cheat. 

Added to this, you could have smart contracts doling out payments to fans and eliminating disputes. Everything would have to be agreed ahead of time, and then it would just be a question of waiting for the outcome and distributing funds. The initial contracts would have to be written well, but it is possible players might switch. 

Smart Sponsorships

What about players’ money? How could that be affected by crypto in sports?

One way might be through automated sponsorships and agreements. The idea here would be to build trust into the system (and make contracts more binding), while rewarding players for their efforts. 

As an example, a sponsor might agree to pay a player more based on real-time metrics that they care about, like online watch time or total viewership. If a player is able to boost these, a blockchain-based contract would then automatically increase their payment, and perhaps literally deposit money in their cryptowallet at the same time. 

This sort of transparency would give players more options. They’d be more than happy to sign these contracts because they would be airtight, again cutting down disputes. 

Player Performance Tracking

Finally, blockchain could permit better storage of player performance stats. Currently, these statistics are proprietary, but with blockchain, you could store this information privately. 

This might sound like a poor use case, since all this information is collected anyway. But is that true? While match information is recorded, most people don’t know anything about what goes on during training. Blockchain could store this information securely, only releasing it during player wage negotiations when it is necessary.