The average sports gambler probably isn’t aware of who Gary Vaynerchuk is, but it might pay off to learn. Vaynerchuck is a digital marketing master and social media influencer who recently suggested that sports cards are going to be the next big thing. His theory is that kids growing up 30 years ago collecting baseball cards and being told by their parents that they were in a good investment now have money to buy the cards they always wanted.
That money is currently being poured into the sports card market, because those kids are now 35 to 45 years old with disposable income. Vaynerchuk has spoken about Bitcoin and blockchain technology before, but he’s not explicitly and influencer in that industry. He talks about making money online in general. He does however have a large following, and his recommendation to invest in sports cards has sent the market for cardboard collectibles skyrocketing.
As far as that relates to Bitcoin and blockchain, does a booming sports card market mean the Digital sports tokens are the next big thing?
Gambling on Sports Cards is Paying off Big Time
Just recently, a rare LeBron James rookie card from the 2003 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection sold for $1.8 million. The card itself is getting so much hype that even James himself chimed in on it’s a gram to let the world know that he owns a few of those $1.8 million cards. Why is this particular card so valuable?
Well beyond the fact that it features James, most certainly one of the best basketball players of all time, it also boasts a spectacular design and only 23 copies of the card are in existence today. Just like any other gamble or investment, scarcity creates value in the world of sports cards. The same thing can be done with digital collectibles using the same technology that supports Bitcoin.
Athletes and Sports Collectibles on the Blockchain
The interest professional athletes and sports leagues around the world have taken in digital assets and blockchain technology has been well documented over the last number of years. An increasing number of teams in soccer’s English Premier League are seeing blockchain projects and Bitcoin gambling websites become sponsors.
Athletes are being asked to be paid in Bitcoin. A Bitcoin gambling website lists the NBA is the league most likely to pay players in Bitcoin first, and more and more athletes are turning their personal brands into digital tokens as a way of monetizing their contracts and endorsements before they receive their payouts.
It’s only logical than that sports memorabilia and collectibles be turned into digital assets. Why store sports cards on shelves collecting dust when you can store tokens on a computer tied to a crypto wallet address that identifies you without revealing who you are, still creates scarcity that you can profit off of, and gives you a sense of ownership that engages your passion for sports, gambling and investing all in one?
This isn’t just the way of the future. It’s actually what’s happening now. It wasn’t too long ago that a marketplace selling digital collectible cats called CryptoKitties saw people dropping $100,000 for the rarest characters in the marketplace. Now the company behind that initiative has a deal in place with the NBA to produce digital tokens and the MLB also has a similar agreement in place to feature its players on the blockchain.
It’s only a matter of time before the boyhood pass time of collecting sports cards and selling them for a profit exists mostly on your computer and in the form of tokens. On top of all that, if you’re still new to the world of Bitcoin and the blockchain, collecting digital versions of your favourite players might be the best way to get educated on all things related to digital assets, and make some money doing it.
As always regardless of the medium or the asset being bought or sold, by digital collectibles from your favourite sports leagues using only money that you can afford to lose.
May the sports cards, tokens and winners be yours!
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