Fans Seek Trust and Better Understanding of Sports NFT Market: Research

The prolonged crypto winter has leveled inflated price floors in the NFT ecosystem, inadvertently altering investor sentiment and forcing users to rethink their long-term investment strategies.

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The strong involvement of the sports ecosystem is what has accelerated the widespread adoption of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with teams and players leveraging the technology for fan engagement. However, sports fans have revealed their interest in going beyond the hype and making investments based on knowledge of NFTs and trust in issuers.

The prolonged crypto winter has leveled inflated price floors in the NFT ecosystem, inadvertently altering investor sentiment and forcing users to rethink their long-term investment strategies. A study published by the National Research Group (NRG) revealed an openness among sports fans to learn more about NFTs while waiting for a greener market.

Number of daily NFT sales between June 2021- June 2022. Source: NonFungible

In June 2022, NFT sales fell to their lowest level in a year, signaling a momentary end to the NFT hype. Surveying 3,250 sports fans in the US, UK, Japan and Brazil, NRG's research found an increased fear of losing money or getting ripped off as one of the biggest barriers to the purchase of NFTs.

Overall, only 15% of respondents had complete trust in NFT marketplaces, while 30% said they had little or no trust in them. The survey found that "this problem is particularly acute in Japan, where 4 in 10 consumers have low confidence in NFT markets".

Despite geopolitical differences, investors from all four countries unanimously agreed on the need for stricter NFT regulation, taking into account factors such as age restrictions and risk tolerance.