How Cryptocurrency Impacts Sports?

In the past few years, the popularity of cryptocurrency has risen drastically. Few believed that Bitcoin would ever achieve any sort of mainstream success, and the ones who did, are reaping their rewards in 2022. In 2020, the crypto market saw a huge surge in traffic, as many people began to look for alternatives to the typical banking investments. Since then, the number of crypto investors has been steadily increasing. 

With crypto becoming ever more present in the zeitgeist, companies, businesses, and even countries are becoming more open to embracing the concept. One of the subcultures which has been the most open to the embracing of cryptocurrency is the sports fandom. In this article, we are going to look at the ways in which the sport fandom has been changed by cryptocurrency. 

Sports NFTs
In 2022, the popularity of non-fungible tokens has drastically increased in popularity. Non-fungible tokens are a form of digital art, which can be traded on the same blockchain as various cryptocurrencies. NFTs are awarded to the buyer, and their value is determined based on uniqueness and demand. For sports fans, the best analogy we can draw parallel to, are Baseball cards. Once upon a time, baseball cards were one of the most popular trading commodity in the sports world, and even today, certain cards go for thousands, even millions of dollars. The value of these cards is determined based on the demands of the market, and the rarity of the card. Think of Sports NFTs as digital baseball cards, which you can store on a hard drive, and then re-sell when their value accumulates. If you want to learn more about NFTs and crypto, check out the learn crypto blog.

Online Crypto Sports Betting
Another industry which has been growing drastically in the past couple of years is the online gambling industry. An aspect of that, is online sports betting. Online sports betting websites can be accessed through various electronic devices, and make betting a lot more easily accessible and easier for punters. Sports like football, American football, basketball, cricket, and horse racing are some of the most popular sports to bet on in the world, and they are the main draw when it comes to online betting sites. 

A lot of online betting sites in recent years have begun to embrace cryptocurrency. This has made online betting even easier than before, as the transaction fees and transference fees are a lot lower, due to the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency. 

Crypto Sponsorships
In the past couple of years, many sports leagues are beginning to sponsor crypto projects. For example, in February 2022, one of the biggest football clubs in the world right, Manchester United F.C., announced their $27 million/year sponsorship deal with the Tezos blockchain. Though the club did not stop there. Only recently, the club announced their new sponsorship deal with OKX.

But football clubs are not the only ones jumping on the bandwagon. Formula 1 has locked into a 3-year sponsorship deal with the crypto companies Bybit and Tezos, which are now F1’s official blockchain partner. 

American investors will be happy to hear that Super Bowl LVI featured adds from various crypto trading platforms, bringing cryptocurrency to the forefront of American culture. Among the platforms featured were FTX, Crypto.com, and Coinbase. 

These are not the only sports leagues and events which have featured adds and sponsorship deals with the crypto industry. The UFC (and various fighters featured in it) has spoken out about their support of cryptocurrency, and has made various sponsorship deals.