Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, and digital assets are among the ten significant developments in the sports sector, according to Price Waterhouse Coopers’ (PwC) Sports Outlook 2022 study for North America. The paper identifies three primary use cases for NFTs and their potential to change the future of sports, ranging from changing sports technological infrastructure to increasing fan involvement.

The initial use case is collectable NFTs, which are assets used to offer valuable, authenticated, and limited edition digital material. This refers to conventional memorabilia like as player trading cards or ticket stubs from past matches that may be digitized, minted, and exchanged on the blockchain. According to the research, these treasures may someday be displayable and shared throughout metaverses.

The NBA Top Shot from Dapper Labs is the “best known” example of a collectable NFT collection. The marketplace tokenizes highlights or the “greatest” performances from NBA history, and it recently placed second, behind the Axie Infinity game, for the most NFT transactions in the blockchain gaming business, with $827 million dollars in 2021. Another well-known example is former NFL quarterback Tom Brady’s NFT collectable marketplace Autograph, which just secured $170 million in Series B investment.

Second, season ticket member, or STM, NFTs may be regarded a major use case. Giving season ticket holders validated tokenized passes would enhance an already devoted fan’s experience. STMs who are used to receiving extra unique material and stadium experiences may also obtain special edition collectable NFTs for the games they attend. Sponsors may gain as well if the teams they support allow them to guarantee that consumers who lose their actual tickets do not forfeit any further perks.

Finally, virtual access tokens for fans who wish to pay extra for a virtual experience but may not be able to attend games in person are predicted to be popular. Virtual access tokens, which have been described as a new type of season tickets, might provide owners with access to additional behind-the-scenes advantages like as player cams, bench cameras, and even virtual locker-room access. Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City are two soccer teams that have had success using fan tokens, allowing supporters to influence non-strategic game-day choices such as walk-up music.

According to PwC, the current top income sources for clubs and leagues are ticket sales, media rights, and sponsorship. It anticipates that tokenized tickets, NFT media rights, and sponsorship of digital or metaverse events would fuel the industry’s expansion, and that digital asset sales may potentially become a “real” income source. The research went on to say that in order to make this happen, teams would need a tech stack that combines their new digital sales data with old customer databases, as well as a strong legal team to address regulatory and tax considerations.

All of these tendencies are on the rise, particularly as collaborations between NFT exchanges and sports groups become more prevalent. Solana NFT marketplace Magic Eden just announced a new NFT collection in conjunction with Overtime, the athletic entertainment platform, to increase fan interaction during the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball championship.