“Atleta’s infrastructure uses sensors to capture everything happening with players during matches and records it on the blockchain.”
That turns them into tamper-proof, immutable sources of data. Clubs can also make player performance and medical data public.
All of this would require a significant attitude shift from an industry that has always, and continues to, profit massively from these practices.
Saksonov agrees this may be a challenge, but argues that “the credibility and trust in your data will outweigh any potential downsides.”
The problems Saksonov has described are the result of how centralized organizations operate.
“There’s no point in adding yet another centralized entity that will hide data and try to take a slice of the pie for itself.”
Instead, he says, the industry, its players, and fans should embrace Web3 and strip away the profiteering middlemen and return “real ownership back to the community.”
Blockchain can make each ticket, player transfer, and statistic transparent and tamper-proof.
It gives fans direct engagement, he says, athletes control over their data and earnings, and clubs a means to build “sustainable revenue streams”, minus the shady intermediaries and practices.
“Blockchain replaces guesswork with trust.”
On the subject of fan engagement, Saksonov adds that blockchain also lets fans “actually own their interactions.”
For example, purchasing verifiable tickets (which also combats ticket fraud), collectible NFTs, or governance tokens could give fans a voice in club decisions.
“Instead of being passive spectators, supporters can participate in polls, unlock exclusive content, or trade digital assets tied to their team.”
Saksanov says that a sense of ownership could deepen the loyalty of its fans and create a two-way relationship between the clubs and their communities.
Atleta is competing with Chiliz, Flow, and other sport-focused blockchains and projects that are promising a lot.
“We have a clear focus on the sports industry, but we’re not limiting ourselves to narrow use cases like fan tokens or on-chain ticketing. We’re building a holistic infrastructure that helps sports institutions and athletes tackle their long-standing problems.”
Last year, Atleta launched a soccer academy in Brazil, bringing in “promising new talent” from around the country.
Saksanov explains that their data will become tokenized and made visible to clubs and talent scouts who may want to acquire them. He believes this effort “gives these kids a ticket to a better life — and this is only the beginning.”
He says the network is performing well with over a million users making over 24 million transactions on its testnet.
Its mainnet is an EVM-compatible L2 built on Substrate and connected to DeFi more broadly.
The Atleta token, ATLA, is also seeing solid growth and use as it records around $10 to $20 million in daily trading volumes. It is trading up by 68% over the past month at $33.81.
According to Saksanov, Atleta can handle “any use case” that requires high-speed and rapid finality.
“Our blockchain processes up to 80 transactions per second with a block time of 6 seconds, and finality is instant — no need to wait for multiple block confirmations until the transaction is irreversible.”
Atleta’s high throughput is “handy” in instances like player performance data logging.
“Sensors and wearables can generate thousands of data points per match. Writing those streams on-chain requires high throughput, or you end up with lagging, incomplete records.”
It also has strengths in areas such as live match betting, as it powers instant odds syncing, payouts, and results in line with what’s happening on the field.
“This is possible thanks to the permissionless nature of blockchain, which lets anyone build their own dApps on its native layer.”
Blockchain’s evolved beyond simple betting into things like prediction markets, he adds, where it’s possible to trade outcomes “across sports, politics, and culture,” all in real time.
Atleta’s grants program allows “any developer” to drive these markets forward and start building “right now.”
As seen across crypto and gaming communities, Web3 has a way to make digital experiences incredibly engaging.
Saksonov highlights ticketing as one such example.
“Picture this: you hold tokens that let you vote on halftime shows or jersey drops, and you get instant rewards for taking part. NFTs tied to specific plays or player stats become digital souvenirs you actually own.”
As Atleta tokenizes player data and issues player-bound NFTs, users can track and follow their favourite players’ careers “from day one.”
“DAOs push it even further. Fans can pool funds to back youth academies or decide which charity projects the club supports. Even at the local level, teams can raise money, issue tokens, and give supporters a real voice. It turns fans from passive spectators into active stakeholders.”
Saksonov says that if done correctly, tokenized tickets can be “more than a gimmick” as they’re on-chain and can’t be faked.
It’ll combat the counterfeit ticketing that has plagued sports fans for decades.
“No mysteries, no supercharges; scalpers can’t resell $20 seats for $500, and clubs can set fair resale rules or even kick rewards back to loyal supporters.”
The on-chain ticketing industry is nearing a market value of $1 billion, says Saksonov, and this could reach $4 billion in the coming years.
But it’s important not to throw crypto tech at fans, “but to keep it simple.”
Paradoxically, Saksonov notes, one of the bigger challenges is in making Web3 almost invisible to the users.
“Web3 mostly works for fans if the blockchain part disappears into the background.”
Sports fans don’t want to go through the hassle of creating a crypto wallet, understanding private keys, gas fees, and everything in between.
“Fans should be able to buy with a card, get their ticket in a wallet they barely notice is blockchain, and enjoy extras like loyalty points or digital collectibles.”
What fans want is fair prices, instant and easy access, and rewards that mean something.”
Let fans scan a QR code at the stadium to instantly receive loyalty points, Saksonov posits, or a game highlight as an NFT, “or a vote on a club decision, without realizing they’ve interacted with Web3.
Saksonov believes ticketing, fan engagement, and other segments like data management are going to surge over the decade.
“People will increasingly use blockchain to attend matches and be part of their favorite club’s story.”
In the end, he also hopes to foster a better economy amongst sports clubs and their players, where accessible data, transparent deals, and digital incentives “become the industry standard.”
The post Atleta Network’s Dima Saksonov: Web3 Sports Market Is ‘Drowning in Opaque Deals, Corruption, and a General Lack of Trust’ appeared first on ccn.com.
