The coming months are poised to be a big one for Bitcoin and sports. Already, a few different major sports teams have announced that they will be adopting bitcoin payments in some way. NASCAR has been having a long affair with cryptocurrencies. Biggest of all, at least in the United States, is that Bitpay has purchased the rights to a NCAA College bowl game,
naming it the Bitcoin Bowl.
But can cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies be fused with sports in a deeper way than advertising and hot dog purchases? Can cryptocurrencies be used to enhance the fan experience in anyway?
The New York Jets have recently
announced a new fan reward program, which will reward season ticket holders with points every time they scan a card. The points can be redeemed for exclusive items and experiences only the Jets can offer. Things like autographed memorabilia, tickets to sit in the owner's box, flying with the team to an away game and even Super Bowl tickets.
The aim of the program is to add value to the extremely unpopular PSL policy. PSLs or Permanent Seat Licenses are sold by some high-demand sports teams as a way to reserve the right to buy season tickets. Fans often have to wait for years on waiting lists, and when their numbers are finally called they are expected to shell out thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, for a PSL, which will give them the “right” to purchase season tickets at face value. In the Jets case, the most expensive PSLs cost $25,000 each but the team is hardly alone in selling high priced. The San Francisco 49ers sell
their most expensive PSLs for $80,000.
PSLs are often framed as an investment by the top brass at the Jets (and by other teams around the sports landscape that use PSLs). The idea being that season ticket holders can sell tickets of games they don't want to go to in order to make their money back. PSLs can cost up to six figures on the secondary market, and are never lower than four figures.
There are a few problems with this. First, fans bought the season tickets because they likely wanted to go to those games, with only eight regular season home games played per season in the NFL, there are only a few opportunities to make the PSL money back. Second, when the teams perform poorly (and the Jets have had their fair share of hard seasons) it can be hard to unload those tickets at a price significantly over face value (and remember, PSLs don't stop you from having to pay for the tickets). Third, the team seems to be talking out of both sides of its mouth. Generally, selling tickets anonymously in second hand markets is frowned upon, since those tickets could go to fans of the opposing team.
CoinTelegraph Op-Ed:
http://cointelegraph.com/news/112268/op-ed-how-bitcoin-could-change-how-we-interact-with-sports
