Where’s the time when everyone in the sports world went all out with NFTs? About 2 years ago, fans paid thousands of euros for digital creations of their heroes, but now the phenomenon seems dead and buried. What financial carnage did some projects leave behind? How do buyers and sellers look back? And what lessons have been learned? Looking for answers.
As if an unknown train burst into the sports world at high speed. No one knew the final station, but everyone still hooked up with their wagon. Hoping to arrive in a lucrative paradise.
It is the end of 2021 when one athlete and/or club after another announces that they are launching NFTs.
Let us first refresh the essence, in case you have completely forgotten the concept by now.
NFT is short for “Non-Fungible Token” and can be thought of as a digital certificate to prove that something is yours. It arose to assign a certain value to online creations.
Especially in the heyday of crypto coins, despite the many critics, the hype is enormous. Especially in sports – a world where the lure of quick money is always answered.
All the greats of the world are launching an NFT project, and top Belgians are also jumping on the bandwagon.
For example, Wout van Aert auctions his greatest victories and Romelu Lukaku markets the moments that defined his career.
But have you heard anything about it since?
Fiascos at Lukaku and Club Brugge
Well, last week NFTs suddenly became a news event again.
Then it became known that creditors are demanding more than 1 billion euros from Cristiano Ronaldo, because the Portuguese superstar – without warning of the dangers – had advertised his own ‘CR7’ NFTs, with digital animations of himself.
The starting price? More than 70 euros for the cheapest copy.
From the recent complaints you can undoubtedly guess how the direction of the collection evolved. The sales price of NFTs plummeted by 99% on average to less than 1 euro.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s collection.
Eternal rival Lionel Messi also has a preference for (highly paid) partners from the crypto world, but the impact on his fans was questionable.
The Golden Ball winner sold a series of digital works of art – the most expensive sold for around 1 million euros – the value of which collapsed.
In addition, there were the Argentinian “fan tokens” from Socios, which Messi promoted extensively in the run-up to the World Cup.
Owners were promised that they would have a say in peripheral matters within the national team, such as stadium music, and a chance to win prizes. For example, anyone who had 75 “Argentina shares” could win a signed Messi shirt.
But the limited number of “tokens” was also linked to a (crypto) rate. Just before the World Cup, thanks to Messi’s promotional work, they peaked at around 9 euros, but now they are worth barely 72 cents.
Loyal fans who invested heavily saw a lot of money go up in smoke.
The price evolution of the Argentinian “fan tokens”.
Belgian initiatives around NFTs also almost always ended in misery.
Just like the Argentinians, STVV saw its ‘club currency’ crumble from Socios. Fans of the Limburgers who paid around 20 euros per “token” at the start see the rate at less than 1 euro.
Club Brugge was burned even more fiercely. In January 2022, blue-black proudly announced that it had joined forces with Simba, which launched an NFT collection with digital portraits. There were many advantages associated with this, such as the chance of an “exclusive tunnel experience”.
But even before the launch, the American Simba went bankrupt. Sources at Club claim that it was a sponsorship deal, where money was given in exchange for promotion.
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Romelu Lukaku launched a similar collaboration with SportsIcon. The Red Devil would trade some iconic moments from his career.
“A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” assured the announcement, which would never be followed up. Anyone who tries to visit the official website now will receive an error message.
Auwtch.
15,000 euros for Van Aert
Perhaps most memorably, even a down-to-earth driver like Wout van Aert launched a series of NFTs, featuring three digital artworks of his greatest victories.
The collection yielded a total of 47,000 euros and is still in the hands of the original owners two years later.
Would they already regret their purchase?
We traced the person who paid almost 15,000 euros for the digital ‘work of art’ of his victory on the Champs-Élysées.
Wout van Aert’s series of NFTs.
“Before my purchase, I had already made a ridiculous amount of money trading NFTs,” says the man, who prefers to remain anonymous.
“I didn’t buy from Van Aert with the intention of making a profit. I’m a big fan and I didn’t have to dip into my savings for it anyway.”
“In retrospect, I had expected something more in return. Some VIP invitations to a race or a meet & greet, for example. But other than an empty promise, we heard nothing more from Jumbo-Visma.”
“Will I get any offers on it? In the beginning a few around or just below the asking price, but after 2 months that stopped completely.”
There have been so many bad examples that the concept of NFT has subsequently been tarnished.
Ruud Dankers
It is significant for the reduced interest that the then Momentible platform no longer sold any NFT afterwards.
“The subject is still very relevant,” emphasizes Ruud Dankers of TDE, the company that took care of the launch. “But sentiment has changed significantly due to the crypto crash.”
“You know, we auctioned Wout’s NFTs at the time because we thought people thought it was cool. Important: we never put an asking price on it, did we? People paid what was worth it to them. Or they speculated on a rise – something that is still possible in theory.”
“Other projects sold NFTs at a specific price and subsequently failed to deliver on their promises. Well… There have been so many bad examples that the concept of NFT has subsequently been tarnished.”
Although athletes like Van Aert and Lukaku may have to take a critical look in the mirror.
Did they really know what they were recommending to their fans? And the (financial) risks associated with it? Based on the rehearsed promotional videos, we suspect the opposite.
The buyer of the Van Aert NFT: “You have the feeling that they were doing a cash grab. Quickly make some extra money with a hype, without really being involved. I can imagine that some people feel cheated. Especially if they are short on cash.”
Future for technology
Have all NFT projects in sports ended in fiasco? Certainly not.
For example, Sorare revolutionized the world of fantasy games by using NFTs. The French startup quickly grew into a multi-million dollar business that concluded deals with the largest football leagues. The NBA and MLB would later follow suit.
Two years after the boom, Sorare is still the market leader.
But while early entrants could amass millions, it’s much harder to get rich quick these days.
Because the company continues to ‘print’ new tickets, prices fell sharply. Did the cheapest version of Hans Vanaken used to cost 300 euros? Then that is now barely 17 euros.
Jupiler Pro League tickets are still traded on Sorare.
It lowered the entry barrier, but also caused many users to see their money evaporate.
However, the game manages to take the experience of a football match to a higher level. Something that is not the case with digital works of art, such as those of Ronaldo and Messi.
People used to buy NFTs purely for the sake of understanding. Now it’s much more about the technology behind it.
Ruud Dankers
The company behind Wout van Aert’s NFTs is also still active. They later launched projects in collaboration with the Dutch Football Association and top club PSV.
Fans received the ‘tokens’ free of charge in exchange for their loyalty, no longer by paying thousands of euros during bids.
Dankers is therefore convinced that there is still a future for NFTs.
“You never hear artists say they release MP3s, it’s about the music,” he draws a metaphor.
“Well, people used to buy NFTs purely for the concept. Now it’s much more about the technology behind it, instead of the hype. We as an agency are actually very happy about that.”
Dankers concludes with an example: “Tickets for sports matches are now sometimes sold as NFT, because the black market can be regulated much better. In contrast to a PDF, you can ‘attach’ various rules to an NFT. Such as a maximum price on resale .”
But will exorbitant sums continue to be paid for NFTs (of no use) such as those of Wout van Aert?
The lessons learned from the rapid demise were a bit too expensive for that…
2023-12-12 05:00:00
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