Sports have been a part of human civilization for as long as humans have had civilization – and in fact, many would argue that certain sports even pre-date civilization.
Since the Ancient Era, people have enjoyed participating in, viewing, and betting on sports. Many of the most popular sports we have today, such as football, boxing, wrestling, track-and-field, and horse racing, have their roots in the Ancient World.
On the other hand, cryptocurrency is a rather recent phenomenon. The first crypto, Bitcoin, was invented in 2009, when the first genesis block was mined by creator and internet legend, Satoshi Nakamoto. In the little over a decade that it has been around, cryptocurrency has massively grown in popularity, and has recently become quite mainstream.
But, what is it that sports and crypto have in common? At first glance, nothing. However, there is quite a bit of crossover between the two, and cryptocurrency is becoming more and more popular among sports fans for various reasons. Let us take a look at a few reasons why.
Crypto betting
One of the favorite activities among sports fans is betting on their favorite athletes, teams, and games. In the information age that we inhabit, most activities that can be done through the internet, usually are. This, of course, extends to betting. Nowadays, websites can be found all over the internet which gather information about the most popular sporting events. WTA singles rankings, tournament schedules, and EPL scores can be accessed with but a click of the button.
More importantly, however, sports betting sites have taken the betting world by storm. People all over the world have moved away from typical, land-based bookies, and are now using sports betting sites as their primary betting platform. Betting sites cover a wide range of sports, most notably football, basketball, cricket, hockey etc. On top of that, betting sites also usually are created by online gaming companies, meaning many of them also allow users access to online casinos. Often times, bettors tend to be fans of the classic casino games, and with online betting sites, they get both for the price of one.
But how does all of this relate to crypto? Well, the popularity of Bitcoin has prompted many betting sites to begin embracing it as a viable (and at times the sole) deposit method. These so-called Bitcoin casinos are a new phenomenon, yet it has gained prominence recently, becoming more and more popular among bettors.
Sports NFTs
While not technically cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens are very closely related to the phenomenon. We will not go too deep into just what NFTs are, but to put it simply, an NFT is a token, which gives the owner access to a piece of digital art. Non-fungible tokens have been around for little over 7 years now, however, it is only in recent years that they have been gaining more and more prominence.
And just how do NFTs relate to the world of sports? Well, the popularity of the phenomenon has spawned numerous people to create NFTs related to sports. There are quite a handful of NFT trading sites that allow for trading and selling of sports-themed NFTs. It is important to mention, as NFTs are rather new and unexplored, there are quite a lot of scams relating to them. It is recommended that, before anyone starts to buy or trade NFTs, that they familiarize themselves with some safety tips, which will help in avoiding scams.
But just what are sports NFTs? The best way to describe them is to compare them to baseball cards. For those who remember them, baseball cards were once considered little more than a childish hobby, however, nowadays, many of those cards are worth a pretty penny. NFTs are basically digital baseball cards (except applied to multiple sports), and collectors are hoping that they will, eventually, accumulate in value, and can be sold at a higher price.
Final thoughts
With many of the Premier League teams looking to get crypto-related sponsorships, the idea of cryptocurrency is growing more and more in the world of sports. Bitcoin betting sites and casinos are growing in popularity, and sports-themed NFTs are seeing an increase in circulation.