The English Football Association plans to establish an NFT platform, analyzing the commercial model that combines sports and Web3

The English Football Association is launching an NFT platform to sell digital collectibles, including match highlights and exclusive experiences. This is a new revenue stream that takes advantage of the growing interest in NFTs. Combining sports and Web3 technology presents many possibilities for innovative and potentially lucrative business models. Fans can purchase NFTs that represent ownership of exclusive experiences, such as meeting their favorite players or attending VIP events. The use of blockchain technology allows for decentralized decision-making, where fans can vote on key decisions, such as team management or venue selection. This is just one example of how Web3 technology can enhance fan engagement and create commercial gain for sports organizations.

The Football Association (FA) is the governing body for amateur and professional football in England, and the FA Cup is the world’s oldest football competition. Recently, the English Football Association announced on their official website that they have released a proposal request to find a long-term NFT platform partner, with plans to establish a new long-term NFT platform.

The combination of sports and Web3 has become increasingly mature in the past few years, and the cultivation of the market and consumers has continued to deepen. A recent survey shows that sports fans are now ready to invest in NFTs that have real value. This article will analyze the business model of the combination of sports and Web3, analyze the reasons and scenarios for the successful combination of the two, how they interact and influence each other, and share potential future business scenarios.

Current Web3 Sports Integration Scenarios

The sports industry and the Internet are now inseparable, and Web2 networks have changed the way fans consume sports, and the impact of Web3 will continue to do so in the future. In recent years, major sports organizations have readily accepted Web3 technology, and have begun to introduce cutting-edge technology and create the latest gameplay. The current excellent categories of Web3 sports-related projects include:

1. Traditional Sports NFTs

As early as July 2020, the NBA (National Basketball Association) partnered with Dapper Labs to launch a series of officially authorized NFTs. These NFTs are mainly used to highlight individual player auras, and commemorate key games and other important moments.

• Meng Yan: After visiting Africa, I now believe that the opportunities for blockchain are in the Indo-Pacific region.
• Weekly Financing Report | 12 Public Financing Events; L1 Blockchain Shardeum Completes $5.4 Million Strategic Financing with Participation from Amber Group
• Rollup as a Service: A new era of blockchain scalability, the next modular battlefield

The NBA pushed the player card NFT to its development peak through the NBA Top Shot platform, where users actively buy and trade NFT player cards or NFTs centered on the signature moves of star players. Data shows that within eight months of the platform’s launch, the number of users reached one million, and the transaction volume exceeded 700 million US dollars. As of May 2022, NBA Top Shot sales have exceeded 1 billion US dollars.

In addition to NBA basketball, in August 2022, the NFL (National Football League) partnered with Dapper Labs to launch NFL All Day, and Dapper Labs also has similar partnership relationships with UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), LaLiga and the English Premier League. Major official sports associations or clubs are all involved in the NFT market in different forms, either by collaborating to issue NFTs or by building NFT trading platforms to connect with fans.

2. Web3 Sports Game

Sorare, a football game platform, became popular since its launch in 2019. Representing football stars with NFTs, players can buy officially certified NFT virtual football player cards on the Sorare gaming platform and play as a team manager, building their own custom golden football team. Players can also participate in various football matches on the platform. If they win, they can get new cards and ETH rewards. This Web3 football game promotes communication among players and football fans in a new way.

According to public information, Sorare has completed a total of three rounds of financing. In 2020, it completed a seed round of $4 million. In 2021, it completed an A round of financing of $50 million. In 2021, it completed a B round of financing led by Softbank of $680 million (with a valuation of $4.3 billion), breaking the record for the largest financing amount of a French technology company.

As of July 2023, the Sorare gaming platform has accumulated a total of 3.7 million game players, and the game content has expanded to include NBA, MLB, and more. Currently, Sorare has cooperated with more than 100 clubs. Sorare continues to work with stars, such as French football player Mbappe, who served as Sorare’s spokesperson and vigorously promoted its platform, attracting a large number of traditional Web2 football fans to join Sorare and start their own Web3 journey.

3. XR Live Sports Events

With the rapid development of XR technology and the impact of epidemics in recent years, the market demand for XR live sports events has continued to increase. The combination with Web3 also allows users to feel like they are watching the game on-site, with an immersive experience, and obtain real and memorable ticket NFTs, and even special series NFTs.

For example, last year, the Italian Football League broadcasted a match between AC Milan and Florence on the metaverse platform Nemesis, becoming the world’s first metaverse live sports event. The UEFA also held an e-sports bidding competition for young people on Roblox, hoping to communicate visually with young people in the form of metaverse competitions. XR borderless sports experience is being promoted globally, and the application of this technology includes metaverse live broadcasts, which bring audiences more convenient and immersive viewing experiences through technology.

In terms of cooperation in the sports market, smart contracts can be used to facilitate contracts between athletes and teams, as well as sponsorships and endorsements. Sports smart contracts are a type of automatically executed digital contract that allows two or more parties to exchange assets or information in a transparent and secure manner without intermediaries. These contracts are also built using blockchain technology, which can create tamper-proof and immutable transaction records. This can make complex multidimensional business cooperation faster, more transparent and form a clear network, while also providing high security and increasing the value of all parties to the transaction.

In terms of information data, because Web3 can provide a more transparent and decentralized system for collecting and analyzing sports data. Blockchain-based data storage and analysis can prevent data tampering and provide fairer compensation to athletes based on their performance. This can enable new forms of sports betting and prediction markets, which are more fair and just, and will be more accepted by both speculators and fans.

It is even conceivable to use DAO governance in the sports industry, which can be used to allow fans and stakeholders to participate in decision-making and profit sharing, using Web3 technology to make the distribution of power and wealth in the sports industry more fair, and achieve a more democratic and decentralized governance system.

Possible future business models

Many officials have mentioned in interviews with Web3 platforms that such cooperation in transitioning to Web3 helps generate new long-term revenue and reinvest it in matches for the benefit of the game. We hope to create new interactive ways for fans using the latest blockchain technology to attract more new audiences and fans. More business cooperation models are bound to emerge in the future, but ultimately they will revolve around the two key factors of fans and matches. Here are a few possible future scenarios:

1. Address VIP

You can participate in all sports events based on your address, including NFT tickets, NFT star collections, Web3 sports games, Web3 sports forums, and more. When a project appears that can connect almost all Web3 sports-related project data, user address data can be formed. Then, based on the various dimensional data of the address, such as the number of tickets owned, the number and value of NFT collections, the number of games played, the level and win record, and the activity level and level in the forum, a VIP score can be given. Users with higher VIP levels correspond to higher loyalty and enthusiasm of fans, and can even be divided into different tracks and clubs.

2.Watch to Earn

With the increasingly mature live broadcast technology of events, users can earn rewards by watching games online. This can also be combined with NFT event tickets and decentralized prediction result betting to provide users with convenient integrated services. Watching games is more convenient, and you can also earn income by watching games, and you can use the income obtained for betting. I believe it will be very popular and has a large market.

3.DAO Governance

In the future, it is entirely possible to have teams owned by Web3 DAO organizations, which means that DAO organizations become shareholders of the team, and fans may become members of the DAO. Operate a team in a more transparent and democratic way, sign contracts with players through smart contracts, and distribute profits to all members according to the contract. Fans are more attentive and loyal to the team, and can create value and receive dividends by governing the team through democratic autonomy. I believe this will make many fans extremely excited.

Conclusion

The impact of Web 3.0 on the sports industry is extensive and far-reaching, and the combination of the two is also a development trend of technological progress. The ability to stay in real-time contact with fans and followers and deeply understand customer behavior has changed the operating methods of companies in the sports industry. As we move towards the future, it is obvious that the role of technology will only continue to grow Web3 in the sports business.

We will continue to update Blocking; if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us!