Asian Sports Industry Follows in the Footsteps of NBA, Joins NFT Boom

As the NFT craze continues to gain traction, the sports industry in Asia is looking to be the next newcomer to this emerging technology in an effort to generate more sales. NFTs have proven to be a great alternative as traditional revenue streams continue to be disrupted by the prolonged global pandemic. This is evidenced by the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the U.S. with the launch of NBA Top Shot in 2020. In Japan, Pacific League Marketing recently launched its own collection called “Exciting Moments” on December 23 where they sell rare baseball game highlights between ¥2,000 and ¥25,000 apiece. Players will also be given a portion for every sale made.

Users who purchase the videos will then be able to trade them as NFTs, which could increase the value depending on the rarity of the video. Pacific League Marketing, a company backed by six professional Japanese baseball teams, partnered with Mercari, an e-commerce firm, to deliver this service. They utilize the Flow blockchain system, which was developed by Canadian startup Dapper Labs.

Tomoki Negishi, the CEO of Pacific League Marketing, explained that he wanted to look for another source of revenue as ticket sales drastically fell due to COVID-19. “In the past, professional baseball’s point of connection with fans was the stadium. But the last two years have seen a situation where we couldn’t get a lot of visitors to the ballpark. Connections need to be made elsewhere.”

Based on data from Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting and research company Macromill, spending on sports in Japan fell 32% to just ¥1.1 trillion in 2021 despite the country being the host of this year’s Summer Olympics. Baseball is also the most prominent sport in Japan, but the number of fans dropped to only 22.8 million people accounting for a 1.84 million decrease. While stadiums have been drawing a bigger audience, Negishi acknowledges that the ongoing pandemic still stands to endanger the beloved game.

“While there are a lot of art-related NFTs, they need to build their brand power in order to attract high prices,” explained Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting chief researcher Masafumi Hagiwara. “Sports leagues that are already well recognized have a strong advantage in NFTs.”

The K League and J League — South Korea and Japan’s respective football associations — have also given merchandising rights to French startup Sorare. Sorare has developed a fantasy football game where users can draft their own teams by buying or trading NFTs of players. Earlier in September, it was released that the platform has traded more than $150 million worth of cards since the beginning of 2021.

Teams aren’t the only ones venturing into the world of NFTs. Celebrity athletes in Asia have also followed the trend such as the Philippines’ Manny Pacquiao and Japan’s Naoya Inoue. Despite this, Hagiwara has expressed words of caution with regard to ownership of sports NFTs. “With NFTs, it is not very clear what you are owning. Those that worry about such issues may stay away until there is more clarity.”

Source: Nikkei Asia