News/Commentary

Cryptocurrency & College Football - Exploring The Growing Bond

September 18, 2024 by CollegeFootballPoll.com Staff

College football is pure US sporting heritage, but what makes it such a unique and captivating sport is that it operates outside the realms of traditional sports, at least on an international level.

Sure, there are feeder leagues in soccer, and other sports have similar concepts, but they do not have the same footing in their countries as college football does. There’s a good argument that college football is the second biggest sport in the US. The viewing numbers are enormous, and major teams can draw an audience that can match any other top US sports outside of the NFL.

Cryptocurrencies are tokens used to facilitate transactions on the blockchain. The blockchain monitors all transactions and is used as a form of digital currency. However, the blockchain and the technology underpinning it provide value; it is immutable and doesn’t require oversight, with each block and advanced cryptography securing the transactions without any oversight required.

College Football Betting

There’s no denying that college football has been one of the main driving markets behind the surge of sports betting in the US. It’s a billion-dollar market, and with many new states entering the market, it’s set to yield continuous growth well into the 2030s.

So, where does cryptocurrency enter this argument? Let's explore cryptocurrency, a trillion-dollar market, and global sports betting, which is on its way to becoming one. Those innovative minds in both industries have been exploring ways to overlap.

Part of the appeal of crypto is that it can remove the red tape that can stem from traditional digital betting sites. Instead of storing a mountain of your personal data or sensitive financial information on their server, cryptocurrency betting platforms only require a crypto wallet and some crypto.

Once the crypto is purchased, it can be moved onto a betting platform within seconds. It doesn’t require lengthy verification processes, and it doesn’t require a bank to oversee your transaction. It’s all validated on the blockchain.Bitcoin betting at Thunderpick provides the same type of platform and facility a traditional site does, but it leans into the reliability and security of the blockchain.

By using the most notable crypto assets as a means of payment, betting with Bitcoin at Thunderpick is an example of how sports betting and cryptocurrency platforms are joining forces and rising to the challenge of a new market.

NFTs

While perhaps not the most obvious use case for crypto, non-fungible tokens, also known in short as NFTs, have carved out a niche angle in college football.MGoDAO is one of the clearest examples of how college football fans and blockchain enthusiasts are meeting at a proverbial point in the road.

Their company aims to provide a community where football fans can discuss all things Michigan and an avenue where NFT ownership can translate into group governance over the community, allowing voting rights and democratizing the whole concept.

It may sound out there, and for those who aren’t privy to how crypto or blockchain works, it might not sound like an intriguing idea or one with the potential to grow in the long run.

However, as college football has been able to use the internet to continually expand its popularity, where we can access everything from player stats to season previews to detailed game highlights, there will be a continual crossover between technology and the sport. Now, while NFTs becoming a big part of the sport is very much an outside bet, it shows how willing companies that champion the blockchain and crypto are to explore new ideas.

Final Say

We’re not writing off the possibility of NFTs becoming a more visible part of the connection between blockchain and college football. As long as Bitcoin continuesto explore new all-time highs and become a broader part of the financial world, there will be companies out there keen on exploring the possibilities.

However, it’s difficult to see any other possibility than the biggest partnership stemming from the growth of sports betting companies and the increasing use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which more people use to place their bets.

Compared to the traditional market, cryptocurrency betting is still a tiny part of the wider gambling industry. If we break down the statistics, college football is a small gambling market, and cryptocurrency is a niche payment option. However, crypto sports betting on college football is one of the markets that shows the most potential.