Sports and blockchain technology have gotten along quite well in the past few years, and the latest evidence shows how much that relationship has matured. The Sacramento Kings basketball team is working with ConsenSys to launch a new blockchain-based auction platform that will allow it to sell retired jerseys on the Ethereum network.
The Kings and Ethereum: A Perfect Match?
The partnership will permit individuals to “live-bid” on retired jerseys. The maneuver is designed to fight fraud and ensure that all bets and materials can be sourced, thereby keeping transactions authentic and valid.
The ones who stand to benefit the most are the fans who purchase the jerseys. In a statement, the Kings suggested that fraud is quite common in sports-related auctions, and much of the items purchased are sold through individuals who are looking to gain even more money on what they’ve already purchased. This time around, however, users will be purchasing the jerseys directly from the Kings themselves and not from individuals or resellers.
Also, the auctioned items will all be registered on the Ethereum blockchain, thereby establishing histories for the items to ensure they’re real.
In a statement, the Kings mention:
The total value of the [United States] sports memorabilia market has been valued at $5.4 billion annually, yet there are no industry standards for authenticating items and protecting fans from purchasing counterfeit merchandise. Through this partnership, the Kings and ConsenSys are effectively increasing the resale potential for authenticated merchandise on secondary markets.
The team has also mentioned that all proceeds from the auctions will go to charity. Among those expected to receive funds are victims of Hurricane Dorian, while money from later auctions will go to the Sacramento Kings Foundation.
At the time of writing, the auction is scheduled for Wednesday, January 22. The highest set price for a jersey is currently set at $730.
The Kings team has a long history with crypto. In the summer of 2018, the organization became the first sports team to mine Ethereum for charity through an initiative known as “Mining for Good.”
In addition, the team appears to have started a trend and convinced other players to accept crypto as a method of payment. One such team to do so is the Dallas Mavericks, co-owned by billionaire Mark Cuban of “Shark Tank” fame.
Accepting BTC Without Liking It?
The irony here is that many times, Cuban has spoken out against bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. However, he ultimately became convinced to allow bitcoin payments for tickets and team memorabilia given that there was a “huge demand” to do so. Many fans were reportedly asking the team to permit crypto payments, and Cuban felt he didn’t want to turn away from potential innovation.
Thus, despite standing against bitcoin, he allows it for the team.