Digital Collectibles in Sports

3 minute read · Issue Number 93 · November 5th, 2021

Nov 05, 2021

Welcome to another weekly edition of Sports-Tech Biz! Every Friday, we learn about intriguing topics related to sports, business, and technology. If you’re reading this online or in a forwarded email, sign up for the newsletter:

Happy Friday!

This edition will be a bit shorter.

I kept finding and learning about companies behind digital collectibles in sports, but most of them shared concepts and characteristics that we’ve already covered in the past three editions of the magazine (Sorare, NBA Top Shot, and F1 Delta Time).

Today, we’ll put the most important takeaways on the topic.

Here are the 15 things you must know about digital collectibles in sports:

Digital Collectibles in Sports

Porsche Digital subsidiary launches NFT sports collectibles platform - Ledger Insights - enterprise blockchain

People love to collect goods, and digital collectibles are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that allow people to gather and interact with digital goods.
NFTs can exist as video games, marketplaces, virtual worlds, or simple files.
The NFTs and collectibles market is worth over 10 billion USD today.
Blockchain technology enables NFTs (and hence, collectibles) to track the custody of an item, validate transactions, and protect the items’ scarcity and authenticity.
Digital collectibles in sports are relatively new, have almost no precedent, and could potentially face many obstacles in the future due to lack of regulation surrounding crypto.
Like Dapper collaborating with the NBA, Sorare with European Leagues, and F1 with Animoca Brands — having the license of a specific league or organization seems to provide a significant impact on a project’s value & popularity.
Most digital collectibles can exist on the Ethereum Blockchain, but it is not the only alternative (i.e., NBA Top Shot is on the Flow blockchain).
For NFT-related projects, each blockchain has different costs, scalability features, types of protocols, and others.
Business models for digital collectibles vary, but issuing and selling them seem to be the simplest and most consistent way of earning from them.
The prices of collectibles depend on factors like scarcity, exclusivity, popularity, quality, belongingness, and entertainment.
With time and based on supply and demand, your collectibles can increase in value – creating a new type of investment vehicle.
Teams, leagues, and sports organizations benefit from them because it generates fan engagement, gives them an alternative source of revenues, and creates a new marketing channel for their brands and players.
Fans can now acquire scarce digital assets that can be used with a purpose (like gaming) and be part of a community of like-minded individuals.
The next step for massive adoption will depend on how useful the collectibles can become outside their platforms.
This new technology enables dynamic games and marketplaces to mix with digital assets to create massive businesses worth keeping a close eye on.

🎙 Halftime Snack of the Week

Understanding and Growing your Digital Audience

The latest guest to join the podcast is Adam Mussa – founder of Campaignware.

Campaignware is a platform that helps brands and rights holders grow their fanbase, gather insights, and activate their sponsors.

We talked about digital marketing and social media, the fundamentals of understanding an audience, how technology empowers brands and sponsors, the journey and future of digital marketing, and more.

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