NFTs and crypto assets are reportedly among the ten most significant trends throughout the sports sector, per insights generated by the consultancy PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC). 

Specifically, the report – dubbed “Sports Outlook 2022 report for North America” – reportedly touched three primary NFTs use cases for NFTs, from altering sports technology infrastructure to driving fan engagement, and the potential they have to change the future of sports.

The first use case is collectible NFTs – assets that support the selling collectible, authenticated, and limited edition digital content, nominally memorabilia such as players’ trading cards or tickets stubs of digitizable historic matches, available for minting and trading on the blockchain. 

The report further included that there are plans for these collectibles to be showcased and shared throughout the metaverses. 

The “best known” instance of a collectible NFT collection is the NBA Top Shot designed by Dapper Labs. The marketplace – which recently secured the second spot after the Axie Infinity game for the highest NFT transactions within the blockchain sphere – turns highlights or the “best” plays from NBA history into tokenized forms. 

An additional well-known instance is reportedly retired NFL quarterback Tom Brady’s NFT collectible marketplace Autograph, which secured $170 million in capital injection via Series B fundraising not long ago.

Second, NFTs could be a major use case for season ticket members (STMs). Season ticket members with verified tokenized passes would streamline the experience of an already loyal group of supporters. 

STMs who are familiar with gaining access to special content and stadium experiences could also receive special edition collectible NFTs for the games they attend.

Finally, virtual access tokens for supporters who are content with spending extra for a virtual experience or may not be able to attend games in person are expected to be in demand.