Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views and opinions of the crypto.news editorial.
Boxing is the four most popular sport in the United States; However, behind closed doors, it is one of the most divided and inefficient sports industries. The growth of social media, extensive marketing campaigns from advertisers, and the influx of influencers stepping into the ring have helped its recent growth. It is now estimated to have a My dear worth more than $1 billion in the US alone and $300 million amateurs globally.
However, the industry today faces significant challenges, particularly for young and underrepresented fans who do not benefit from this growth. Fortunately, blockchain technology has the potential to transform this.
Talent should be linked to career progression in any sport, but unfortunately, this is not always enough. The path to becoming a professional boxer involves collaborating with various people around the world, including sparring partners, agents, promoters, trainers, nutritionists and massage therapists, who use different platforms to connect and communicate. This fragmented landscape makes it difficult for inexperienced boxers to find the right professionals, negotiate fair compensation, and establish mutually beneficial relationships.
With 17 weight classes in men's boxing alone and four different governing bodies handing out belts, the industry operates within siled ecosystems with opaque decision-making processes that often lead to disputes over rankings, fight negotiations and revenue.
Access to substantial funding is essential for professional growth, but financial barriers often cause aspiring boxers to miss out on opportunities. However, top professionals can earn millions of dollars, like Floyd Mayweather, who received $223 million from his fight with Manny Pacquiao in 2015; However, in 2018, the average professional boxer cattle only $35,584 gross. The enormous costs associated with securing and paying top-notch stakeholders, services and equipment, traveling abroad to network, and building a brand presence make the path to success financially unviable for most.
Many of these issues are experienced across the sports industry, but sports clubs, athletes and governing bodies are using the benefits of decentralized blockchain to address them.
Blockchains like Chiliz make it easy to create fan tokens so sports teams can engage with fans and increase monetization, such as Tottenham Hotspur's 'Spurs Fan Token'. technology is also being used to streamline processes, such asnft-ticketing” target=”_blank” rel=””> Based on Sports Illustrated nft nft-ticketing” target=”_blank” rel=””>Ticketing service, to combat fraudulent ticket sales and further encourage fans. The symbiotic relationship between sports enthusiasts and cryptocurrency holders has led to strategic partnerships aimed at raising awareness, such as Lionel Messi and Bitget, the crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and Manchester City and OKX.
In boxing, a variety ofnft-collection-bid-raise-1-6m-Ukraine-massive-AJ-rematch.html” target=”_blank” rel=””> exclusive The nfts were sold by world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, with all funds going to help a charity in his native Ukraine during the war. However, blockchain's potential to transform the boxing industry goes far beyond nfts.
Decentralization is the key to revolutionizing the boxing industry. The blockchain provides a single decentralized network to combine boxing's fragmented ecosystems, eliminating centralized third parties and promoting transparent transactions and interactions between stakeholders.
A growing creative economy has seen increased tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), and now boxers, promoters, trainers, sponsors and other industry players can tokenize their skills and services on the blockchain. This gives them full control over their data and professional decisions, improving transparency, reducing costs and streamlining vital processes for the poorest and most marginalized boxers at the beginning of their careers.
Not only this, but the global accessibility of blockchain to anyone with an internet connection creates a unified boxing community for boxers and fans, increasing networking opportunities and helping aspiring talents easily identify training partners for help them achieve success.
The transparency and immutability of Blockchain are vital to building trust in the industry. With all data permanently stored on the blockchain, such as records of athlete contracts, partnerships, and financial transactions, it builds trust between stakeholders and helps them make informed decisions. Accessible to everyone, boxers can analyze past transactions to understand legitimacy, ensuring fair compensation and trustworthy partnerships. If an advertiser pays a boxer through that boxer's agent on the blockchain, the boxer has complete visibility into the amount he should receive without the agent taking an unfair cut. Similarly, it can combat corruption, such as eleven boxing fights in Rio 2016 that was believed to be fixed, exposing the payments to the judges or boxers involved.
With sensitive data on boxers and high-value transactions at stake, blockchain's strong security measures assure industry participants of the privacy and integrity of their data. Strong cryptographic encryption techniques protect transactions and communications, making it difficult for fraudsters to intercept or alter data without permission and preventing illicit or illegitimate transactions. This high security provides confidence to boxing professionals, particularly those who are new or skeptical of blockchain technology.
Decentralization also reduces transaction costs and eliminates middlemen who could take a cut within the boxing industry. Cryptocurrencies are a universal medium of exchange to enable seamless cross-border transactions, such as payments for training services, advertising sponsorships, and fan engagement. As a globally accessible currency, it expands the network of connections that can be established within the industry, allowing American boxer Mike Tyson easily pay its Brazilian promoter, Rafael Cordeiro, without having to worry about exchange rates between currencies.
Fan tokens and nfts are a great way to empower boxers to monetize their brand and engage directly with fans, bypassing traditional middlemen and maximizing revenue streams for athletes. Fans are incentivized to purchase the token by unlocking access to exclusive content and decision-making processes.
The last piece of the puzzle can be solved by creating a unified blockchain-based SocialFi platform that houses the needs of the industry under one roof. Last November, the world's first boxing platform, Ready to Fight, was created, leveraging the benefits of decentralized web3 technology to unite the boxing, fan, and cryptocurrency communities. By providing a vast ecosystem for boxers to showcase their talents, network with industry peers, and connect with fans to monetize their content, Ready to Fight is set to solve the boxing industry's woes once and for all.
Although a lot of work will need to be done to convince Web2 users to adopt the technology, as the boxing community embraces blockchain innovation, the industry becomes clearer, fairer and more accessible to all.
