$1.3 Billion Sports NFT Market to Double by 2022; a 100% growth, 10 year CAGR

by James · September 4, 2022

PUNE, India, 5 September 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Market decipherers has published its latest report, “Sports NFT Market Size, Statistics, Growth Trend Analysis and Forecast Report, 2022 – 2032“. The survey estimates the Sports NFT Market size to 2.6 billion dollars in 2022 and forecasts to reach 41.6 billion by 2032growing on one CAGR of 36.3% during 2022 to 2032. Digitization of trading cards and high demand for limited edition video NFTs are two major trends that are revolutionizing the industry and ultimately pushing the sports collecting industry. Surprisingly, developing countries are increasing at a higher level than in any other high-tech market. Revenue from the NFT sports market doubled in 2022 and achieved 100% growth.

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“NFTs allow fans to obtain the rights to their favorite sports moment by acquiring NFTs of such video moments. Trading cards, already a major market share holder in the sports memorabilia market, are showing a rapid shift from physical to digital. NFTs are creating another new income stream for athletes, leagues and teams from various sports, with current demand heavily concentrated in the US. Different blockchain companies allow teams and athletes to create their own NFT marketplace for sports, thus easing the path to the NFT industry.” – Chandradeep Singh (analyst at Market Decipher)

“Shift from physical to digital and the impact of sales channel”

Physical collectibles such as trading cards have a shorter lifespan as they can be lost, destroyed. This has given a big boost to the NFT card market.

Card: Collection cards have now taken off in the NFT sector. Sports enthusiasts would collect the NFTs as a hobby and others for business purposes to resell them at higher prices.

Accessories: Player’s accessories/memorabilia such as T-shirts, watches, shoes, caps, glasses, etc. are very popular in the industry. There is a huge demand for these unique collectibles in real time, users are trying to get in off-line auctions. Digitization of these accessories makes them unique and constantly increases their market value.

Collectibles: In sports, collectibles such as trophies, autographs, awards and other sports equipment are turned into unique digital assets. Tokenizing the sports collectibles into NFTs will expand the NFT market with great profit.

Video clips: There are some moments that gain popularity in a sport, sports organizations/athletes tokenize the video clips, images into NFTs which now bring them huge revenue.

The sales channel in the sports memorabilia market has been significantly affected due to the NFT craze. NFTs can be sold digitally and therefore off-line auctions have less role to play. Also, new NFT marketplaces have developed that allow teams or athletes to create their own NFT and put it up for auction or sale. Such marketplaces also allow resale of NFTs by investors and traders.

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“Will it end the role of auction houses?”

In 2022, limited edition video clips will lead the NFT industry in the sports domain followed by player cards. The value of the NFT depends on the popularity of the athlete, the importance of the event and the associated content of the NFT. NFTs are believed to be sold over online platforms; However, it has been observed that an NFT limited to a single edition of a major event – such as a winning cricket strike, goal, home run or dunk by a sportsperson, added to commentary by the associated sportsperson – is auctioned. On the other hand, the same video is sold and traded, but without additional content and many (but limited) copies available through specialized NFT platforms or online collectibles, such as OpenSea.

“Demand Drivers: What is Boosting the Sports NFT Industry”

The supply of limited IPR in sports NFTs has not dampened appetite, suggesting that demand may well be driven by the ability to demonstrate status: Scarcity drives intrinsic value in itself. Video games is one such domain that has witnessed huge spending on digital tokens by enthusiasts and fans. Since the number of NFTs to be created depends on the manufacturer, it allows them to either create a limited single edition with super high value or multiple but limited editions; thus creating expected rarity. NFTs are displayed only on a screen, and therefore the marginal cost of “production” is close to zero.

Currently, major sports in demand for NFTs are NFL, Football/Soccer, Basketball, Baseball, Cricket and Ice Hockey. Over time, however, all sports are likely to have some form of NFT offering. Interest in sports NFTs is likely to be spurred by activity in the wider NFT market, including that of digital art.

An important initial assessment will be whether NFT activities are best carried out at the league, team or athlete level. The sports NFT industry makes major financial inroads into the sports industry’s general growth and development in several ways.

“What competitors are doing in this revolutionary business?”

The NBA projects like Top Shot, NFL’s blockchain project and similar others have gained great acceptance among the fans. The Digital Sports Collectibles or Sports NFT industry has been helped by the collaboration and partnership between NFT and the sports industry to grow and is also having a positive impact on the sports industry.

Some of the companies covered in this report are OOOOO Entertainment Commerce Limited, Funko, Inc., Hut 8 Mining Corp., Ebang International Holdings Inc., Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc., OpenSea, NBA Top Shot, Rarible, Aetsoft, Enjin, Accubits, Nifty Gateway, AirNFTs, Sorare, Dibbs, Crypto.com, Fanzone Sports Club, The Ballman Project, Blockchain Brawlers and Mintable.

Key competitive strategies: September 2022:

FIFA Launches NFT Collection on Algorand (ALGO)
NFT platform “Heir” to enter the high school sports star NFT Sector
Officially licensed NFT platform OWNIC to revolutionize collectibles with dynamic NFTs
Major League Soccer is partnering with Sorare to launch a blockchain-based fantasy soccer game in 2022
Ticketmaster chooses Dapper Labs’ Flow Blockchain for NFT tickets
Former NFL legend Michael Vick co-founded Sports Tech Company FanField
NFL Launches NFT Helmet Collection as Part of NFL Rivals Blockchain Game

Key statistics and insights

Sports NFT market is growing at 36.3% CAGR
North America leads the global market
Asia Pacific is the most potential region
Cricket NFT is managed by APAC
The NFL NFTS is led in the US, but a small market elsewhere
Latin America mostly dominates with both NFL and football
Trading cards are developing as a leading revolutionary
Digital memories gain acceptance
Video Moment NFT is the leading segment
Very active industry in strategies of companies in 2022
Early movers to take advantage/high potential market
Ambiguity in understanding leads to major misunderstandings among companies
Market research will play an important role in strategy building in 2022

Sports NFT Market Scope

The report includes detailed analysis of market data for each NFT type for each country and for each sport type. Estimates and forecasts are provided from 2021 to 2032. This is a very active market, which is why we update this survey every month.

Number of report pages: 226
Number of data tables: 82
Number of charts: 74

Report proposal available at:

Top sports NFT market segments

Industry division by NFT type