Sportcash One — NFTs — A Bright Future
NFTs — NFTs what are they and why is everybody and their kid brother talking about them?
NFTs or “non-fungible tokens” are cryptographically unique assets of the-1-of-1 variety. Similar to a 1st edition Michael Jordan card an NFT in the sporting context derives value from its scarcity. Additionally, and here’s where NFTs excite athletes, musicians, and content creators alike, the undergirding blockchain technology affords NFTs with specific privileges post purchase. For example, digital ownership of a first edition Michael Jordan NFT may afford you twice monthly private video chats with Michael. The flexibility of smart contracts provides nearly endless latitude for desired privileges offered by the content creator and desired privileges on the consumer side.
10x Improvement on Legacy Collectibles
As I’ve said on countless Clubhouses to date, NFTs for the Sports collectibles world offer a 100x improvement on the traditional collector’s market. Ownership of an asset on a permanent ledger dictates no dispute as to the true owner of an asset. Furthermore, the digital capabilities of a smart asset provide uniquely digital characteristics such as portability. It’s easy to let your mind run wild here, settle a classic debate between legends of different eras by porting their NFT highlight content in parallel or in virtual reality. Port your limited addition NFT into the most current multi-player game and share your collector’s items in a fun practical way.
Smart Speculation and Asset Generation via Support
NFT’s uniquely open the world of investing and speculating to youth sports. Imagine investing at the grass roots level of a sport you love while simultaneously generating appreciating assets in the process. A vintage video turned NFT of Cristiano Ronaldo at 15 would be how valuable? How many Cristiano Ronaldo’s exist but not for adequate funding from those willing to patron and support their development? These are big questions and NFTs are blockchains technical solution to finding real-world economic solutions. NFTs explosion on the global market place illustrates consumers ability to understand the complexity of decentralized finance (DeFi) when alloyed to the commodities and nostalgia of their passions. Sports fans are the quintessential embodiment of this phenomenon. Everyone knows the fan whose head is seemingly full of sports related stats. Can this fan tell you the difference between Ethereum, Waves, and Uniswap? No. He can tell you in great detail the difference between a Michael Jordan rookie card, a Larry Bird rookie card, and a Lebron James rookie card with corresponding statistics to bolster even his most superficial arguments. The financialization and commodification of nearly all creative endeavors as well as past-times, hobbies, and sports affords this very fan the chance to create, own, and trade within a domain of expertise he’s uniquely qualified to do so. Importantly, he does so knowing he’s actively supporting the athletes, creators, and artists in the most direct and efficient way possible by cutting out sticky-fingered middle-men in the process.
Digital Avatars of Real-World Accomplishments
Imagine athletes of all ages porting their digital content from the peak of their career and comparing it relative to their friends, heroes, and contemporaries (true peer-to-peer engagement). Imagine the entirety of your athletic achievements, blood, sweat, and tears digitally comprised in a 1-of-1 uniquely portable and interoperable asset. Athletes, speculators, and fans alike are going to continue to own, trade, debate, and argue the who, the when, and the why of these uniquely captured assessments of athlete’s value. Additionally, NFTs provide remarkable useful capabilities for athletes to share their triumphs, talents, and content across digital platforms.
Capturing Value for Creators and Consumers
Democratization of access and the incredible reach of the internet provide remarkable value retention by creators while simultaneously providing ultimate value for consumers. What does this mean? Traditionally athletes relied upon media agencies, producers, and content teams, to market, shoot, and distribute their digital content. NFTs allow athletes greater ownership of their digital content and the proportional attachments and rights they want to bestow upon them across ownership, distribution, and exchange.
Athletes Leveraging Their Ability to go Direct to Consumers
It’s super early, however athletes are starting to realize the tremendous disruptive power of owning their own content, their own distribution channels, and now with NFTs their own scarce digital assets. Recently, “Team Khabib” joined the show launching a direct consumer NFT. More are soon to come particularly in sports where revenue comes from Prize fighting, pay-per-view events, and sponsorship. Although keep an eye out on more entrepreneurially savvy athletes as they progress ahead of the curve. See Khabib’s post below:
https://twitter.com/TeamKhabib/status/1376835945857748992?s=09
NFTs are here to stay, and their incorporation with blockchains and crypto resemble a marked shift in the expansion of athletes roles and their ability to monetize their content directly with consumers. What a time to be alive.
What’s to come? Check back tomorrow where we explore athletes as entrepreneurs and the emergence of ‘Athletpreneurs’
