Can the Blockchain Find a Place in Sport?

Blockchain technology is now more than a decade old. Since its creation by Satoshi Nakamoto back in 2009, Bitcoin has helped to spark a revolution with many new ideas building on the initial concepts for the blockchain brought about by BTC.

Over the years, there has been a lot of talk and speculation about the different ways that blockchain technologies could be implemented into different industries, including finance, real estate, and retail.

But the spotlight hasn’t spent much time on sport. This is despite the fact there are several ways that this industry could benefit from the blessings of the blockchain, including these.

Sports Betting

The sports betting market is huge. Each year billions are wagered on games in major and minor leagues in just about every nation in the world.

As we can see from the US, the sports betting market is incredibly competitive. So much so, there are entire sites like OddsChecker that are dedicated to helping punters find the best free bet offers to use on their next wagers.

These promotions come about because sportsbooks try to encourage fans to use their services over a rival’s.

Another way to stand out from the crowd could be to accept cryptocurrencies as either a form of payment and/or use them as the currency the wagers are made in.

As of yet, there are few licensed sportsbooks doing this, but the number is growing and could well become the norm in years to come.

Tickets

If you want to watch a game live, you need to buy a ticket. This is often quite an ordeal with prices very high and supply very low.

Once you’ve bought a ticket, it can be difficult to sell it on afterwards if you can no longer attend the game. You also have to be careful not to fall prey to a scammer when you’re buying from the secondary market.

Smart contracts could be the solution to this. The blockchain could be used to keep track of who the current owner is, while the smart contracts ensure the terms of the ticket are enforced.

The traceability of the blockchain would help to identify anyone breaking the rules by buying too many or buying tickets only to resell. This could make it easier for true fans to buy tickets at face value, improving the overall experience.

Some sports are already experimenting with smart ticketing, so this could be a natural evolution from their current position.