Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the world of sports are on a mutually beneficial path toward the next generation of connectivity.
The latter is a catalyst for wider adoption, as regular sports fans are rushing to collect NFT memorabilia and event tickets powered by Web3. While NFTs provide the industry with an unprecedented level of democracy and connectivity that fans crave.
The FANTium NFT platform is used to take athlete funding to the next level. Fans can use the digital assets to bet on the future success of their sports stars in the future.
But instead of placing bets and receiving only financial rewards, NFT allows fans to connect with athletes and receive regular rewards based on their success.
On October 11, the platform completed a funding round backed by prominent figures in both the Web3 and the sports world, such as Sebastien Borget, co-founder and COO of the Sandbox metaverse, and Austrian professional tennis player Dominik Thiem.
Cointelegraph spoke with Jonathan Ludwig, CEO and founder of FANTium, to understand how to share and democratize athletes’ success using Web3 technologies.
Ludwig emphasized that in this case, NFTs are not just about sports collectibles:
“It’s about getting involved in the sports community and jobs like never before.”
According to the CEO, blockchain technology eliminates all “middlemen between fans and the athlete” when it comes to funding them and rewarding them for success.
Related: Critics can’t stop NFT from becoming a mainstay of everyday life
While success is sometimes difficult to quantify, NFTs can generate a stable share of an athlete’s income and thus success. Usually this is associated with the prize money won by the athlete, but it can also be sponsorship income.
Ludwig explains that the FANTium model includes historical data for all athletes in that sport to ensure that:
“Sports fans get an attractive return on investment, and athletes have an attractive alternative to fund their career.”
While Web3 initiatives in the sports industry often favor big sports stars like NFL superstar Tom Brady, who released the NFT kit with ESPN, or major league teams like the Houston Texans, Ludwig argues that the success of emerging talent should also be appreciated.
“Professional athletes are already making enough money to cover their running expenses,” he adds. They can also use the earnings to “make valuable private investments in their career”.
However, future sports stars can use these NFT-like bets to advance their careers:
“Young, up-and-coming talents, on the other hand, need capital to start their career and reach the top.”
This applies to both student and youth athletes, Ludwig says.
Recently in the world of professional sports, the Karate Combat Association announced its plan to launch a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) to manage the league’s athletes.
Sports startup LootMogul recently received $200 million in funding to accelerate development of the gaming-focused metaverse.
