Blockchain Is Bringing Fans Closer To Their Favorite Soccer Stars

[Pegasus]

The issue of modern soccer
More precisely, the current problem, according to Forbes, is that soccer and its stars are currently chained down by brand sponsorships, governing bodies and media broadcasting companies.

With brand sponsorships come legal contracts which, in turn,  bring in requirements and limits. Examples of these conditions are appearances or endorsements — usually towards the brand — which in turn need media involvement to be effective.

All of this generates an intertwined system of relationships with rules and limits that significantly damage the potential for authentic fan interaction. This isn’t only felt by common fans, older players also feel the issue. According to Stan Bowles there are “brilliant players but no characters in the modern game.”

According to the aforementioned article, “in utilizing blockchain technology, the reduction and/or elimination of these intermediaries will always be the fundamental backbone.”

Direct fan involvement
The platform under development by the company means to enable fans to influence the soccer ecosystem in tangible ways directly. The soul of the project is the Ethereum blockchain where the 433 token lives as a part of the larger ERC-20 ecosystem.

A detail that is made well clear by the team is that there is no gambling or betting involved. The reason for this decision is that the project is meant for audiences of all ages.

One way in which the platform means to enable direct interaction is by letting users sponsor football stars in mentoring youth talents. The fans — in turn — would obtain the possibility to follow the development of a potential future star closely.

The players can also let their fans bid in auctions for access to special events, which will enable the winner of the sale to enjoy personal interaction with their favorite players. The projects one pager even suggests the possibility of a “Legend-vs-Fans friendly game.”

The potential benefit
According to the team, the project brings many potential benefits for fans, soccer stars, youth talents and many more people and organizations in the space. Fans, besides assisting the development of future stars, would be granted personal interactions with players and the opportunity to make soccer decisions.

The players — on the other side — could build their legacy, interact with fans and contribute to charity. The youth talents would see fans sponsor the best players to develop their skills further.

At the same time, football clubs could enjoy better scouting and talent evaluation while GLS could make better decisions.

A great potential user base
Soccer, or football — if you reside anywhere else other than the USA — is by far the most popular sport. There are an estimated 4 billion global soccer followers.

To put this into perspective, Cricket, the second most popular ball game in the world only has 2.5 billion followers. Soccer is a big market opening for the Ethereum platform and — more broadly — blockchain and cryptocurrencies in general.

To help promote the platform to this enormous potential user base, the famous football players Andriy Shevchenko and Paul Scholes have become the face of the project.

Currently — according to the roadmap — the plan is to launch the platform in the first quarter of 2020 and onboard more “football legends”. A minimum viable product launch is planned for the second quarter of 2019.

Source

[Munareal]

This is very true as some blockchain e-sport projects allow users in taking part in decision thereby uniting fans, team owners and footballers. With blockchain, the fan is able to criticize club owners, demand the replacement of the coaches or ask for players to be recruited.