NFT tools to remedy ticket dilemmas? Experts weigh in

The 2022 Champions League final will have a checkered place in the competition’s history book. Real Madrid came out victorious against Liverpool inside the Stade de France, but the pandemonium outside the stadium before kick-off highlights the need for innovative event ticketing solutions.

Counterfeit tickets played a huge role in the chaotic scenes that unfolded in the French capital in June 2022, as fans broke into the stadium grounds while authorities turned many away. French authorities estimated that 35,000 people had arrived at France’s national stadium with fake tickets or none at all, in addition to the 75,000 fans who had legitimate tickets for the grand final.

Ticket sales and black market ticket sales have been part of the sports and events world for decades, but the advent of blockchain-powered ticketing appears to be a promising solution. Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are multifaceted in that they ensure the credibility of tickets and enable Internet-of-Things (IoT) functionality while serving as a unique digital collectible to commemorate an event.

The NFL has already tested the waters with NFT tickets, having distributed around 250,000 NFT tickets after launch in November 2021. Fans who attended the NFL’s Super Bowl LVI were also eligible for commemorative NFT tickets – all at no cost. What that NFT ticket looks like and what it contains is up to the creators. The NFL’s NFT tickets are minted on the Polygon blockchain and feature various animated visuals.

The French envoy for the 2024 Paris Olympics has also proposed the use of NFT ticketing solutions to manage attendance at the events, as well as a trial run at the 2024 Rugby World Cup, which will also be hosted in the country.

NFTs are multi-faceted in that they ensure the credibility of tickets and enable IoT functionality, while serving as a unique digital collectible to commemorate an event. What that NFT ticket looks like and what it contains is up to the creators. The NFL’s NFT tickets are minted on the Polygon blockchain and feature various animated visuals.

Cointelegraph reached out to a handful of industry participants already using blockchain-based NFT tickets to measure the impact of the technology.

Amsterdam-based event technology firm GET Protocol issues tickets minted as NFTs on the Polygon blockchain when a user purchases a ticket on their mobile app. Tickets are linked to mobile numbers, which is an important part of eliminating ticket sales.

Related: There’s more to NFTs than just PFPs – 5 ways non-fungible tokens will transform society

Users can claim the actual NFT when they scan the ticket’s QR code at the given event, which links to their GET Protocol wallet. This is where digital collectibles and other exclusive benefits can be extended to users.

Colby Mort, who heads NFT strategy at the company, told Cointelegraph that NFT tickets help add transparency to what is traditionally a “black box” industry. All tickets are transparently visible in real-time, which helps to prove the ticket’s authenticity, given the immutability of the underlying system

The secondary sales market is also formalized. Tickets can only be resold in the system, which gives the organizers control over tickets, income, data and direct contact with holders. Tickets are also getting extended lifecycles, both before and after events, with the GET protocol exploring decentralized event funding for an upcoming Lewis Capaldi art fair in Iceland. This explores fundraising initiatives with technology that can benefit smaller artists and creatives.

Digital fundraising is an important feature of the post-event NFT tool, but Mort also pointed to its potential as a community-building tool for artists and event hosts.

“NFT tickets for many mainstream audiences are the ‘light bulb moment’ for understanding the underlying utility of an NFT combined with familiarity with the collectibles side of NFTs, as any NFT ticket can include a digital collectible.”

Josh Katz, CEO of NFT marketplace YellowHeart, told Cointelegraph that the ticketing industry is plagued by issues around authenticity and scalping driven mainly by the ease of forging or replicating paper tickets with modern hardware.

The final element and exclusivity of tickets also results in mass sales at high prices. Katz noted that the online ticketing market is expected to be valued at $68 billion by 2025, while secondary sales could generate $15 billion in sales that promoters and artists are forgoing their rightful share:

“NFTs, on the other hand, can help solve most – if not all – of these problems. First, the open and transparent nature of blockchains makes it extremely easy to verify the origin and authenticity of NFT tickets, so it is significantly more difficult for fraudsters to deceive people.”

Kats also highlighted the freely programmable nature of the smart contracts that power NFTs, providing dynamic benefits to holders and issuers. This also addresses secondary market sales, where NFTs can be programmed to deliver a percentage of sales to the artist or event promoter.

Mort insists that a focus on form and function has been important to their ticketing solution’s success to date. Ticket buyers use fiat currency to purchase tickets linked to bank accounts or cards and access and interact with their NFTs through an app.

“Since our inception in 2016, we’ve prioritized abstracting away the complexities of blockchain and NFT technology, but over the past year we’ve seen a huge demand from ticketing companies and event organizers to explore the Web3 side of their ticketing with post- event NFT claims.”

The GET protocol was built to be blockchain agnostic, given that customers and clients will use the event and ticket marketplace without having to understand the underlying technology.

Finding a balance that ensures ease of access for new users while leveraging the programmability, utility and immutability of blockchain technology is a key theme highlighted by both Mort and Katz in the use of NFT tickets.