According to the announcement on the UEFA’s official website, tickets for the Super Cup between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, which was played in Tallinn last Wednesday, were fully distributed through the blockchain system.
The Blockchain is Fighting Common But Illegal Practices
How many times have you seen some shady character in front of the stadium reselling tickets for an important football game or a concert at a triple or quadruple price?
This practice, although highly illegal, was more than common around the world and, up until now, various organizations had many problems when dealing with such hustlers who were after a quick buck.
The ticket counterfeiting problem culminated during the 2007 UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan, in Athens, Greece, which caused an event management failure on game day.
FIFA World Cups were perfect polygons for those dishonest “retailers” as the prices of tickets for the semi-final and final games used to reach astronomical prices on the black market.
Football fans were even prepared to pay €3,000 to see their national team live at the stadium.
But no more…
Europa League 2018 Final as a Test
UEFA reported that to test the new blockchain ticketing system, 50% of the tickets distributed to the general public for the 2018 UEFA Europa League final between Atlético Madrid and Marseille in Lyon were distributed by the blockchain technology, followed by several other test events for fine-tuning the ecosystem.
They chose a blockchain-based ticket distribution system combined with mobile Bluetooth devices at the stadium entrances.
“Following the successful implementation of the new system for the Lyon final, UEFA was able to increase the distribution system to all of the general public acquiring tickets for this year’s UEFA Super Cup match in Estonia,” the European football’s governing body reported on their website.
Blockchain Doesn’t Allow Reselling, Counterfeiting, or Tampering
Decentralized and transparent nature of the blockchain technology doesn’t allow anyone to tamper with data once it is stored on the network.
Therefore, like through a magic wand, by implementing the new system, UEFA ensured that all tickets could be accounted for along with their respective owners. Furthermore, UEFA even published a video which shows exactly how the new system operates and how it should be used.
Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies are Penetrating the Beautiful Game of Football
The example of UEFA is by no means the only one where blockchain meets football.
The Blockchain Land already covered the English Premiership’s Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. and their sleeve sponsorship deal with CoinDeal cryptocurrency exchange.
The US cryptocurrency CashBet scored a sponsorship deal with the only English Premier League club which became a champion without a loss, a world-famous Arsenal from London.
There is also the example where Gibraltar United Football Club paid their players’ wages in cryptocurrencies due to their owner’s involvement in one cryptocurrency project.
Where big money circulates, new technologies thrive. Especially when they can cut the costs and make the whole system more efficient.
Blockchain’s future in, as Gary Lineker would say, ” the simple game where twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win” is secure as it has all the characteristics needed to improve the business aspect of the sport…and more.
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