How NFT technology is used in the world game

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NFT
Image credit: Deemerwha studio via Shutterstock

With the digital era growing rapidly, crypto continues to be a popular currency which has seen the likes of non-fungible tokens (NFT) rise. They feature distinctive identification codes that cement its entire purpose to signify ownership of a virtual asset.

Being bought and traded online using cryptocurrencies, NFT games and collectibles have emerged into the world of sport and become increasingly popular for fans around the globe.

Polarys

Polarys enables athletes and clubs to launch tradable digital memberships powered by NFT technology to engage with the new generation of fans across the globe.

The platform is for athletes and sports clubs to create digital memberships which allow them to engage with their fans and give back to their community with exclusive rewards. Members can buy, use and trade their membership without any coding or web knowledge needed.

Polarys statement: Everything happens on our platform. Creators (athletes & clubs) can create digital memberships in a few clicks, without any coding or Web experience or expertise needed. Users on the platform can buy (or claim if free) memberships and unlock exclusive rewards (e.g. tickets to games, meet and greets, Q&A sessions, coaching sessions, voting for player of the game or season, tour of the stadium, give the kick-off of a game). The benefit for owners (creators) is to monetise your community in a new and engaging way, moving away from the monopole of often toxic social media.

The platform provides endless opportunities for athletes and clubs to engage with their community, especially with the new generation of fans that is online most of the time and is looking at alternatives to social media to engage with smaller communities.

This is a beneficial provider for clubs as digital presence and fan engagement is extremely important nowadays in sport. The more a club can sell themselves using their online presence the more revenue they can generate which is the ultimate goal of using an organisation such as Polarys to develop digital packages.

NFT Businesses

One of the most successful NFT companies recently is ‘Sorare’. Sorare produces and markets legally authorised player tokens or ‘cards’ that may be sold or used in online games in collaboration with major sports teams. Although a single Cristiano Ronaldo card sold for almost $100,000, most cards only cost a few dollars, and Sorare’s games provide weekly prize money in cryptocurrency.

Up until the end of 2019, Sorare was invite-only, but as soon as it became accessible to everyone, its user base immediately surged. In the first six months, sales totalled $350,000 and 70 football teams, including European powerhouse Juventus, signed on.

EA Sports, the company behind the FIFA video game franchise and Madden NFL, is the industry leader in digital sports games. With sales of almost $6 billion and a profit of $800 million

Compared to EA’s fanbase, which has 25 million players of FIFA 22 alone, Sorare’s price doesn’t seem outlandish considering its considerably quicker growth.

EA’s FIFA ultimate team or (FUT) can be seen as the original NFT, consumers buying and trading virtual cards which may have led to the inspiration of modern day NFT collectibles companies such as Sorare and Polarys produce.

Implementing NFT in our backyard

With the growth and success of this technology, the A-league could look to implement NFT’s in a bid to grow the game in Australia. A-league Fantasy Football exists, however the popularity of the game never took off compared to the likes of Premier League Fantasy and others. Introducing a set of A-league NFT collectibles may be an option which increases the online interaction between consumers and the league.

Ultimately, the downfall of NFT’s won’t happen anytime soon. With football organisations benefiting from new technology and progressing their club virtually, it seems as though this will stay a relevant as a part of the games off-field advancement.

LEDiL: Producing more effective football stadium lighting

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Image credit: LEDiL website

LEDiL was first founded in 2002 by Tomi Kuntze and Hannu Hukkanen who designed LED lighting solutions for the automotive industry.

In their 22 years of existence, the company have released 15 specialist products, nine of them indoors and the other six outdoors.

The company have released a blueprint for both their ‘Sports Indoor Lighting’ and ‘Sports Outdoor Lighting’ products which cover multiple different sports and the dimensions of their usual playing ground, with a solution on how to create competitive lighting best effectively.

However focusing on football, LEDiL’s S Beam lighting systems are the solution to clubs wanting effective and compliant stadium floodlighting with the needs and requirements of the leagues they play in.

The technology is complex and has been a project that the company have worked on for a while before being first utilised by FK Mačva, the club on top of the Serbian first division.

How does S beam lighting work?

S-beam is a semi-symmetrical beam intended for stadium lighting with special shape of light distribution consisting of two cut-off zones and effective uniformity zone.

With traditional symmetrical beam lighting, it creates an oval-shaped area of light meaning that the light must be titled upwards in order to cover enough space for the clubs to reach the necessary lighting requirements.

This compromise leads to a worse viewing experience for fans at the ground, broadcasters who film the matches on worse lighting, effects the players performance during the match and increases light pollution in the nearby areas of the neighbourhood.

The lens directs the beam from the LEDs more efficiently by controlling the spill light vertically and providing more light to all areas of the ground.

Benefits of LEDiL LED system

– The use of LEDs has resulted in an energy saving of more than 55% reduction in energy costs.

– Reduced energy consumption leading to vastly reduced electrical installation costs and a faster payback.

– The calculated lifetime of the installation is up to 20 times longer than a conventional halogen solution, leading to a considerable saving in maintenance costs for clubs. This is a massive benefit with costs being a main reason why clubs stay away from starting upgrades.

– Improved lighting conditions for players (Training, ability to host night matches).

– Better viewing experience for the fans at the ground.

Optics

Optics distribute the power of LEDs efficiently, something that is especially important in larger sporting arenas and stadiums.

LEDiL utilise their optics to also reduce power consumption and the number of other components such as LEDs and further reducing the investment needed.

Optics play an essential role in ensuring lighting meets the strict league and competition requirements of different sporting codes, especially football.

Similarly to LEDs, Optics save cost and reduce time of instalment which increases efficiency.

How Australian football can use LEDiL

LEDiL currently doesn’t have a presence in Australia and their simple but effective LED and Optics system is perfect for NPL and State League clubs.

The company’s experience in urban and local areas would improve many parks and grounds that require a better lighting standard.

For a country that is rather tight on its football budget, saving money and being more sustainable is important and the values coincide with LEDiL’s business model, making it a really good fit.

Conclusion

The LED lighting future is one that mirrors the company’s vision which is to enhance wellbeing and safety with a goal for a more sustainable future and improved quality of life.

LEDiL are the future of sports stadium lighting, and the efficiency of the product will be a hot commodity in the industry.

Ticketchainer: A new look into sports ticketing management

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Image credit: IOIO IMAGES / Shutterstock.com

Ticketchainer is a Paris-based tech company that is focusing on transforming the sports ticketing industry from a simple sales tool to a comprehensive e-commerce platform that is suited to the needs of its clients.

Founded in 2019, Ticketchainer has now worked with many sports clubs and organisations across France, including Ligue 2 side AC Ajaccio, offering a product that provides:

  • A personalised purchase journey with a customised user experience and interface, integrating the best e-commerce practices with a responsive design adapted to computers, tablets and smartphones.
  • A back office for ticketing management which configures events and subscriptions, while displaying real-time tracking of ticket sales and combined offers.
  • A fixed and mobile access control management through a dedicated mobile application, personal digital assistants (PDAs) with the Ticketchainer Application Programming Interface (API), or interfacing with existing fixed access control systems.

Co-founder and CEO of Ticketchainer, Sami Bouden, explains how the idea of Ticketchainer all came about in an article with ENSTA Paris:

“Sport, and football in particular, is the events sector where ticketing is the most complex to manage: numbered seats, annual or half-season subscriptions, security, there are many parameters to take into account,” he said.

“It seemed to me to be a challenge that was both captivating and within my reach. That’s how the idea of ​​Ticketchainer was born.”

In addition, Ticketchainer decided to branch out internationally becoming the ticketing platform for the 2023 African Cup of Nations, which was a massive achievement for the tech company.

“It was a huge satisfaction for the team because we won this competition ahead of all the big names in the sector, which is a strong signal for the future,” Bouden added via the article with ENSTA Paris.

During the build-up, Ticketchainer launched their online ticketing platform that covered the six stadiums used for the tournament which had a capacity ranging from 25,000 to 60,000 seats.

In addition, they also deployed 70 box offices across the Ivory Coast to sell physical tickets utilising their technology for digital payments.

In approximately three months, Ticketchainer sold over a million tickets for the 2023 African Cup of Nations. They also had to manage more than 350,000 connections per day, selling 25,000 tickets daily for several weeks.

However, the French tech company did come across some technical challenges along the way.

“Security was of course a crucial aspect, but we had anticipated the issue very well and all attempts at fraud were foiled. We worked enormously to adapt our technology to the scale of the event and make it safe and robust. And it worked perfectly,” Bouden said in an article with ENSTA Paris.

Although still relatively new in the sports ticketing industry already working with various sporting organisations in France, Ticketchainer is looking to continue to expand in Europe after the success of the African Cup of Nations.

“Our main objective remains to consolidate our expansion on the French and European market and to become the reference solution for the most prestigious competitions,” Bouden said in an article with ENSTA Paris.

“At the same time, the success of our performance at the African Cup of Nations naturally allows us to nurture ambitions on new markets, particularly in the Gulf countries, and emerging markets where the event industry is exploding. We have just proven that we have all the assets to achieve this.”

Ticketchainer could prove beneficial to most sports clubs and organisations to help them get a better grasp on handling and organising ticket purchases.

Although it may be a while to see this type of technology implemented in Australia, if Ticketchainer’s success in the sports ticketing scene continues we may see them expand into other continents as well as other big future sporting competitions.

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