It is clear that some industries have been faster to react to the possibilities offered by cryptocurrencies than others.
In the world of sport, cryptos are still fairly rare, but there is no doubt that their importance is growing all the time. American sports franchises are getting curious about Bitcoin and Ethereum and in Europe there are already some soccer teams sponsored by blockchain companies. But how is crypto getting their way into the sport business?
Cryptocurrencies as Payment Methods
Perhaps the simplest way for sports fans to use digital money is to buy tickets and merchandise with it. NBA team the Sacramento Kings has been a pioneer in this respect, becoming arguably the first sports team to accept Bitcoin payments in 2014.
In the NFL, the Miami Dolphins announced a new partnership at the start of the 2019 football season that saw Litecoin become their official cryptocurrency. Part of this deal meant that fans could buy tickets for the team’s 50/50 raffle using Litecoin or Bitcoin.
As the use of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies becomes more widespread, more teams have begun to accept it. However, there is still some way to go before it can be regarded as being one of the most common ways of buying a ticket for a game.
Teams Release Their Own Tokens
An area where some sports teams have been keen to get involved is in issuing their own crypto tokens. Italian Serie A soccer team Juventus has been leading the way in this matter, as they released their official fan token, $JUV, through the Socios platform.
This token allows fans of Juventus to take part in club decisions and surveys. For example, they are able to vote on what song they want to hear played when the team scores a goal. The Juventus token started trading in 2020 and rose in value by 17% in the first hour and a half it was on the market.
Other soccer teams with tokens of this sort include Barcelona, Roma, Galatasaray, and Paris-Saint Germain. The idea is that fans will eventually be able to buy products from the club using these tokens, as a virtual marketplace will be set up.
It is easy to imagine fans using a token like these to vote on their NFL club’s draft plans, to decide how to honor their favorite players, and to get tickets for special events.
Tokens could also be used to bet on NFL playoff futures and for many other reasons in the future. Maybe it will be possible in the future to be on NFL games with cryptocurrencies? It is highly likely.
(If you want to know more about NFL betting click here: https://extra.betamerica.com/nfl/)
Sports Collectibles
An area of blockchain activity that promises to offers lots of exciting possibilities is that of crypto-collectibles. This is something that could give loyal fans something different to help them to feel part of the team’s community.
A good example comes from the MLB, with baseball team Los Angeles Dodgers hosting a crypto giveaway in 2018. This was reported at the time as being the first time a sports team had launched an initiative of this type.
The Dodgers gave away crypto tokens to the first 40,000 spectators into the stadium for a game. The lucky fans could then use it to download a digital bobblehead of a player to store in their Ethereum wallets.
What Does the Future Hold?
It seems that there are still plenty of new ways that cryptocurrencies can be introduced to the sports world. For the moment, some clubs have taken a lead on this, so perhaps others will follow suit when they see that it really can work.
Perhaps the biggest benefit for teams in doing this is to increase the bond between them and their fans. By giving people the chance to own a token linked to their team, they provide a way of making supporters genuinely feel like a part of what happens.
It certainly wouldn’t be a major surprise to find that more sports teams roll out their own digital tokens in the near future. Exciting times are ahead for fans of sports and technology.
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The gambling industry, and in particular, online gambling, is a business whose future is very closely tied to current technology. To make the gambling and betting industries more appealing to wider demographics, manufacturers are employing a range of tactics, from offering discounts and bonuses, to targeting millennial and the younger populations in general, who stand a better chance of using new technology to improve existing platforms.
The Covid- 19 lockdown has been the biggest catalyst for the growth in online gambling and betting.According to poker industry experts of BeastsOfPoker, many countries have seen over 100% increases in online poker traffic. With millions of people stuck in the house for months, a lot of people found their way onto gambling websites and online gaming platforms, which led to huge demand for high-end technology in these industries.
In response to the demand for superior gaming and gambling platforms, a number of trends have come up recently. Here’s a brief description:
Live Dealers
As you may have noted with the most popular online casinos, everyone is rushing to set up live dealers for roulette and card games; and part of this is the need to establish trust with players and to keep people engaged. A lot of these casinos have come up in the past few years, and so there is a sense that the entire industry needs to work together to adopt policies and practices that instill trust among new clientele. If you can feel like the online casino works the same as a casino in Las Vegas, with hundreds of dealers and high-security, then perhaps the gaming experience appears more authentic. Also, dozens of price pools and perks are added to attract new players.
More of Blockchain Casinos
Blockchain is commonly understood as a technology for the finance industry, but its potential extends into many other sectors as well, including online gambling. A new segment in the casino industry is decentralized gambling platforms. Presumably, they offer even tighter security than the usual high-end encryption used to protect user data during financial transactions. Although it is worth noting that blockchain casinos are not the same as Bitcoin casinos. Any regular online casino can accept payment in the form of Cryptocurrency – and many of them do. However, to create a blockchain casino, a whole other approach is needed.
The benefits of blockchain casinos include:
- Completely decentralized open-ledger system
- Super-fast processing of actions – and anonymity
- Users, admin, cannot alter data on transactions. Data is stored in public “smart” contracts
- The nature of the system allows independent auditing of game fairness
- Independent “miners” participate in creating and protecting the system, which further improves transparency
Gambling And Sports Betting: Two in One
Sports betting is one market where online gambling platforms are getting a lot of their clientele from. This of course, is because these two industries are very closely linked; but some of it has to do with the fact that in recent months, a worldwide pandemic led to the total shut down of sports betting, leaving millions of sports bettors with little option except to try gambling websites. Gaming platforms have also started to combine sports betting with traditional gambling, bringing two worlds together – which potentially increases the potential for growth and revenue from these two segments.
Online Bingo And Poker
Few games are as commonly adapted to online gambling as these two. Bingo and Poker are also some of the most popular games, attracting a diverse range of players, both young and old. As far as technology goes, current gaming software speeds up the transfer of data from the gaming platforms to remote computer on the players’ end; but ultimately, the added features such as options to chat with other players, or coming face-to-face with your opponents makes these games more interesting for players.
Technologies such as Virtual Reality have completely changed the gaming experience even for common card games and slot games. And this is only likely to lead to competition for more authentic gaming experiences, which in turn will attract more players.
Social And Mobile Gambling
Even with the huge improvements in VR and other gaming technologies, the majority of players still access online gaming platforms through mobile devices. This means that developers focus a lot of their attention on creating the best user experience for mobile devices, both for browser-based gaming platforms and apps. The challenge with VR is that additional equipment is needed for the experience, while in the case of mobile devices, the challenges tend to involve creating realistic graphics and easy site navigation, among other features.
For the social aspect, players are sometimes offered discussion boards, group challenges, community slots, and so on; as a way to build support for the platform and possibly, generate ideas for creating new features.
So once more, these are the major gaming trends,
- Live dealers
- Blockchain
- VR
- Mobile games
Numerous students apply to scholarship competitions every year. Many of these deserve the scholarship equally, but there are only a limited number of students who can be awarded these scholarships.
To narrow down the awardees, the scholarship granting committee applies various methods. Most of the time it is assumed that the awardees will be selected based on merit but that is not always the case.
The application holds the key to receiving a scholarship. You need to strategize and apply a careful approach if you want to win the money.
Incorporating these 10 pro-tips while applying for a scholarship will increase your chances of winning one:
Start applying as soon as possible
Do not keep waiting until the last moment to start applying to scholarships. Get a head start by at least researching the scholarships that will be best suitable for you. Knowing your options will put you in ease and make the process of applying that much easier.
Some scholarships are available to freshmen and sophomores in high school, so apply to them as soon as you can.
You have to remember that many scholarships have limited funds. They might close applications early and provide scholarships to early applicants before their budget runs out. So, quite literally, the early bird gets the worm.
Utilize scholarship matching tools
Remember the stories of sitting for hours in the guidance counselor’s office to fill out paper applications?
You don’t have to do that anymore as you have the advantage of using tools like the U.S. Department of Labor’s free scholarship search tool that will do it for you.
These tools help you search the right scholarship for you from the thousands of scholarships available online. You can apply filters and use keywords to find a scholarship that meets your criteria which can range from qualifications to your interests.
Do not get confused by the countless options and only keep your focus on the scholarships that are good for you.
These are some tools that can help you find the right scholarship for you:
- Cappex
- Unigo
- Fastweb
- Scholarships.com
Take help from your advisor
You are assigned a counselor or college advisor in high school for a reason. They have years of experience and can help you find the right scholarship. They can even help you by reviewing your application before you submit it. You can even take their help to write your scholarship essays.
Another advice is to check out the past winners of the scholarships you are applying to. If you know any such person, ask the approach they applied towards their application and mirror it to get results.
You can also ask your guidance counselor for the most popular scholarships and which scholarship will suit you best.
Sanitize your presence online
It is a common practice among the people who review scholarship applications to Google the candidates they are shortlisting. You don’t want them to see unprofessional images of you that might kill your chance at getting shortlisted.
You should put your social media settings to private and create a personal blog or website so that they come across positive stuff when they Google you.
You can make one easily on websites like WordPress. You can also opt for a personal domain name so it’s easier to find your website.
Ask for recommendation letters
Most scholarships will require you to submit a few recommendation letters along with the application. They are as important as a well-crafted scholarship resume for you to even have a chance.
These letters could be from your teachers, community members, employer, etc. These letters act as a testimony to your qualifications, strengths, and ambition.
Type up a draft of a recommendation letter in the format that you want the letter in. Include talking points to help them out. Explain to them why it is important and how gaining this scholarship will help you out.
Do not neglect smaller scholarships
If you want to get through college with as little student loan as possible, you will need multiple sources to fund your education. While earning a scholarship that will pay huge amounts is going to be your priority, you have to be aware of the possibility that you might not win them.
You should not ignore scholarships that come with smaller awards. If you win multiple small scholarships, they might add up to a huge sum. Moreover, applying to as many scholarships as possible will increase the probability of you winning some of them.
Apply to scholarships year-round. Apply to at least one or two every month, starting sophomore year.
You can apply as a high school student, undergrad, and graduate student. Some even allow you to apply multiple times.
Draft an amazing essay
Not many scholarships will ask for an essay but those who do pay well. There will be many students who won’t apply to a scholarship that asks for an essay which is good for you as this increases the probability of you winning one.
A great essay can make you stand out. If you doubt your writing skills, take help from your advisor or make use of writing workshops that you could attend to hone this skill.
You will have to write essays for your college applications as well, so why not start early and develop this important skill while simultaneously helping yourself land a scholarship?
Carefully read the guidelines for essay submissions including the word limit. Recycle as little of what you have already submitted if you can.
Work on your interview skills
Many scholarships require an in-person interview. If you do not have much experience as an interviewee and are unsure about your skills, take time to practice. The most likely questions will be around your interests, background, aspirations, and achievements.
To get in the habit of interviewing and eliminate the jitters one gets during interviews, practice with your advisor or maybe even your parents.
Don’t miss deadlines
Being organized is very important. Do not wait until the last day to fill out the application. Better, apply as early as you can. There could even be issues with your application that you may identify later so give yourself buffer time to smooth out any of these issues later.
Our advice is that you keep a calendar about the deadlines of scholarships.
Beware of scams
There may be times when certain unknown people might offer you admission into some of the most reputed universities like Warrington college of business. Many warning signs will give away any scams.
They are easy to spot if you are familiar with what to look for!
Here are some scholarship scam warning signs that you should look out for:
- They ask you to pay a fee to fill out the application.
- There is a guarantee that you will win.
- Those that ask for personal information like your social security number.
- Scholarships that haven’t listed their sponsor’s information.
Conclusion
Take time to research your options and lean on your friends, family, and teachers for support.
With a little hard work, you can walk out of college debt-free. All you need are the skills to apply for scholarships.
