Cricket is jumping on the NFT bandwagon — here’s how fans can splurge on digital collectibles in the sporting world

Based on Indian blockchain firm Polygon’s solution, Rario is the world’s first NFT solution meant for cricket fans. The platform is amongst the first to come out of Polygon Studios, the Mark Cuban-funded company’s new NFT and gaming hub. It has tie-ups with international cretors, like Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan and former South African captain Faf Du Plesis. Given the fact that crypto and NFTs can function outside of country borders, it could cater to all cricket playing nations.

What Rario is trying to do for cricket, Sorare has already done for football. Founded in 2018 and launched in 2019, the platform is already licensed by 154 football clubs around the world. It allows users to collect and trade in player cards and also has a built in fantasy sports platform, a growing market in some countries, including India.

The company had already handled NFT sales worth €60 million as of January 1 this year. NFTs for popular footballers like Portugese Cristiano Ronaldo have been sold for as much as $300,000 on Sorare.

While we’re on the subject of football, the German Bundesliga announced a partnership with ToppsNFTs on August 6. The two organizations plan to sell digital collectibles built around the top German football league. “Whether you support clubs like RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, VfL Wolfsburg or Eintracht Frankfurt or a fan of a particular player, the Bundesliga community will have the opportunity to collect their favorite stars as well as their favorite moments from the 2020-21 season, all in one collection,” said Tobin Lent, Vice President and General Manager of Topps Digital Sports and Entertainment, the company that runs ToppsNFTs.

From football to Formula 1 - F1 Delta Time is a blockchain-based platform meant for Formula 1 fans. “F1 Delta Time creates a new paradigm for digital ownership and gaming. Through blockchain, official Formula 1 non-fungible collectible tokens allow players to participate in a play-to-earn gaming ecosystem, where skills are rewarded with real value rewards,” the platform says on its website.

The National Basketball Association announced a tie-up with blockchain platform Dapper Labs on August 4 to launch the NBA Top Shots NFT platform. “NBA Top Shots are short clips like slam dunks and player moves stored on non-fungible tokens. Called Moments, the brief highlight videos have proven hugely popular, helping NFTs break out of the crypto community into the mainstream basketball fan base,” the organization said in its announcement. It added that a minimum of 1000 moments would be minted during the upcoming Summer League games.

Socios is not just dealing in NFTs for sports firms, the company has tie-ups with many teams and athletes who want to launch their own tokens. Football clubs like English Manchester United, Spanish Barcelona and Italian Juventus have partnered with Socios to launch their own fan tokens on the company’s Chiliz crypto exchange. It also has a partnership with the pro-wrestling league Ultimate Fighting Championship, Basketball teams like Boston Celtics, and cricket teams from the Indian Premier League (IPL).