Introduction

With the rapid development of blockchain technology, Web3 is gradually reshaping the business models of multiple industries, especially in sports, music, and fashion. Web3’s decentralized nature, along with smart contracts, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations), offers new ways for brands, creators, and consumers to interact and creates new business opportunities.

The Technological Connection Between Web3 and the Metaverse

Web3 is one of the foundational technologies of the Metaverse, and blockchain plays a key role within it. For example, the decentralized ledger technology of blockchain ensures the ownership of digital assets, allowing users to truly own virtual items (such as NFT apparel, digital sports tickets, etc.). Meanwhile, smart contracts automatically execute transactions and distribute profits—for instance, musicians can use smart contracts to achieve transparency and instant settlement of royalties, reducing exploitation by traditional platforms. In addition, the combination of decentralized identity (DID) and crypto wallets enables users to transfer assets freely across multiple Metaverse platforms without relying on centralized account systems.

In the sports industry, athletes and clubs are deepening their connections with fans and creating new revenue streams through NFTs and fan tokens. The music industry is undergoing unprecedented transformation, with artists gaining more control through blockchain technology while enhancing fan engagement. In the fashion industry, Web3 drives digital fashion and supply chain transparency, making interactions between brands and consumers more open and innovative.

This article will explore how Web3 is reshaping the business models and fan engagement methods in these industries, and analyze its future development trends.

Web3’s Impact on the Sports Industry

Athlete Branding and Fan Engagement

The traditional sports industry relies on brand endorsements and advertising revenue, while Web3 offers athletes new ways to monetize directly and engage with fans. NFT technology can turn highlight moments from sports events, signed jerseys, commemorative medals, and more into unique digital assets, allowing athletes to profit directly from their sale. Fan tokens allow supporters to vote on club decisions, enjoy exclusive experiences, and even receive VIP perks.

Case Studies：

• NBA Top Shot: A blockchain platform developed by Dapper Labs that allows users to buy, sell, and trade NFT highlights from basketball games. As of 2024, NBA Top Shot had recorded over 15 million sales, with total transaction volume exceeding $1 billion.
• Cristiano Ronaldo NFT: Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo launched a personal NFT collection in collaboration with Binance. Fans can purchase these NFTs to access exclusive content and special perks, such as autographed jerseys or VIP match tickets. The first round of sales surpassed $10 million.
• Argentina National Football Association’s Fan Token “ARG”: During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the price of the ARG token fluctuated with the team’s performance, demonstrating Web3’s impact on the sports economy.
• Top clubs like Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, and Juventus have launched fan tokens on the Socios.com platform, allowing fans to vote on club decisions such as theme songs and jersey designs.
• Manchester United x Tezos: Manchester United partnered with the Tezos blockchain to distribute 750,000 NFTs to fans for free, attracting 100,000 members to join its Discord community.
• Krause House DAO: This DAO aims to collectively raise funds to acquire an NBA team, allowing fans to participate in team operations through decentralized governance voting.

Ticketing and Sports Betting

Sports event ticketing systems have long struggled with counterfeit tickets and scalping issues. Blockchain technology enhances transparency and security through decentralized ticketing platforms, preventing ticket forgery. In addition, smart contracts ensure fairness in ticket transactions and reduce interference from third-party platforms.

Case Studies：

• GET Protocol: A blockchain-based ticketing platform that uses an NFT ticketing system to ensure the authenticity and traceability of tickets.
• Chiliz & Socios: Many top global football clubs (such as Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona, etc.) have issued fan tokens that allow fans to participate in club decisions and enjoy exclusive benefits.
• NFL x Ticketmaster: Introduced NFT ticketing, allowing fans to access exclusive content via NFTs while gaining collectible value.
• Augur: A decentralized sports betting platform that uses smart contracts to ensure fair and transparent betting, increasing market trust.

Socios partner football clubs (Source: Teams - Socios.com)

Sports Esports and the P2E (Play-to-Earn) Model

Web3 is driving the development of sports esports and the Play-to-Earn model, offering fans brand-new ways to interact and earn profits.

Case Studies：

• Sorare: An NFT-based fantasy sports game that has partnered with over 200 football clubs, including the NBA, MLB, and MLS, with more than 3 million players worldwide.
• StepN: A Web3 fitness app where users can earn the cryptocurrency GMT by running, after purchasing NFT sneakers. The number of active users once exceeded 2 million.

StepN official website (Source: – “STEPN is a Web3 lifestyle app with Social-Fi and Game-Fi elements”)

Web3’s Impact on the Music Industry

Copyright Protection and Revenue Sharing

The music industry has long struggled with issues such as unfair royalty distribution and rampant piracy. Web3 technology uses blockchain-based smart contracts to ensure automatic royalty settlements for musicians and to make financial flows more transparent.

Case Studies：

• Audius: A decentralized music streaming platform that allows artists to upload music directly and earn token rewards. As of 2024, Audius had more than 8 million monthly active users and over 100,000 artists on the platform.
• Royal: This platform lets fans purchase shares of song copyrights and earn a portion of streaming revenue. This model not only increases artists’ income streams but also deepens fan involvement. In 2023, Royal collaborated with many well-known musicians to launch multiple multimillion-dollar music NFT projects.
• SongCamp DAO: A DAO formed by musicians to collaborate on music creation in a decentralized way and distribute earnings accordingly.

Audius interface demo (Source: audius.co)

Music NFTs and the Fan Economy

NFTs are becoming a new revenue stream in the music industry. Musicians can offer limited edition albums, VIP tickets, and exclusive content to fans via NFTs, establishing a direct economic relationship with their supporters. By selling NFT music works directly, artists can bypass traditional record labels and maximize their earnings.

Case Studies：

• 3LAU: Earned over $11.6 million through the sale of NFT music.
• Kings of Leon: The first band to release an NFT album. NFT holders received exclusive perks, such as VIP concert tickets.
• Steve Aoki: The DJ sold music as NFTs, with his piece Dream Catcher alone generating $4.3 million in 2021. His NFT album series Neon Future also earned several million dollars in a short time.

(Source: Steve Aoki launches his own metaverse and NFT membership platform “The A0K1VERSE - Music Business Worldwide)

Virtual Concerts and Fan Interaction

Blockchain-based virtual worlds enable musicians to host virtual concerts where fans can interact closely with their idols.

Case Studies：

• Travis Scott x Fortnite: The virtual concert attracted 27 million viewers, setting a new record.
• Snoop Dogg x The Sandbox: Created his own virtual world where fans can purchase virtual real estate and interact with him.

Web3’s Impact on the Fashion Industry

Digital Fashion and Virtual Apparel

With the rise of the Metaverse, more and more brands are exploring the realm of digital fashion, blending virtual and real-world elements. In virtual environments, users can buy, trade, and wear digital clothing—and even showcase these digital fashion items on social platforms.

Case Studies：

• Dolce & Gabbana: Released a limited NFT collection titled Collezione Genesi, with a total of 9 pieces selling for around $6.21 million. The most expensive piece sold for $1.275 million.
• Nike: In 2021, Nike entered the Web3 space by acquiring RTFKT Studios and launched Nike Cryptokicks, a line of digital sneakers that users can customize and trade in the Metaverse. By 2024, Nike’s NFT sales had exceeded $185 million.
• Gucci: Launched NFT clothing in The Sandbox Metaverse, with some items selling for as much as 25 ETH.

Collezione Genesi collection (Source: D&G’s first NFT auction reaches $5.65 million, becoming the most expensive fashion NFT series in history– BitFan）

Supply Chain Transparency

Blockchain can be used to track the supply chain of clothing, improving brand transparency and sustainability. It helps prevent counterfeit and substandard products from entering the market and ensures product authenticity.

Case Studies：

• LVMH x Aura Blockchain: The LVMH Group, together with luxury brands like Prada and Cartier, launched the Aura blockchain to verify the authenticity of luxury goods.
• VeChain: Assists various international fashion brands in building traceable supply chains, enhancing product transparency and enabling consumers to verify the production and distribution process. Brands such as H&M and Reebonz use VeChain technology to trace garment production and improve sustainability.

Web3 Brand Marketing and Loyalty Programs

Brands use Web3 to create tokenized membership systems, enhancing user stickiness (loyalty).

Case Studies：

• Starbucks Odyssey: A Web3 membership program where users can earn rewards by participating in interactive games using NFTs.
• Adidas x Bored Ape Yacht Club: Adidas launched a Metaverse fashion NFT collection in collaboration with Bored Ape Yacht Club. The first round of sales exceeded $23 million.

Adidas x Bored Ape Yacht Club (Source: https://www.google.com）

How Web3 Drives Industry Transformation: Decentralization and the Reshaping of Rights

Web3 Technology Development Timeline (Example)

Before discussing the shared impact of Web3 across the sports, music, and fashion industries, the author has compiled a timeline of Web3 technology development to help better understand its adoption and application across different sectors.

(Source: Compiled by the author)

Common Impacts of Web3 Across Industries

Web3’s impact across various industries reveals the following common characteristics：

• Increased Earnings for Creators: Web3 eliminates traditional intermediaries through decentralized platforms, allowing artists, athletes, and designers to benefit directly. For example, musicians can sell their works as NFTs without relying on record labels.
• Deeper Fan Engagement: Fans can hold NFTs or tokens and enjoy voting rights or membership benefits. For instance, fan tokens on the Socios.com platform allow supporters to influence club decisions.
• New Business Models: Innovative models such as NFT marketplaces and digital asset economies disrupt traditional industries. An example is Nike Cryptokicks, which lets users trade and customize virtual sneakers.

Challenges and Risks

Although Web3 has transformed the sports, music, and fashion industries, it still faces many challenges. Below are some specific case examples and categorized risks compiled by the author:

Market Bubbles and Volatility

The NFT and cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile, which may affect long-term confidence among investors and users. For example:

• Plunge in NBA Top Shot trading volume: NBA Top Shot peaked in early 2021, but by 2023, its trading volume had dropped by 60%, indicating that overheated NFT markets may see significant value declines afterward.
• Crash in StepN token value: The Web3 fitness app StepN became popular in early 2022, but its GMT token price dropped sharply from $4 to $0.20 quickly, leading to a massive user exodus.

Regulatory and Compliance Issues

The legal status of NFTs and fan tokens remains unclear in many countries, which could lead to regulatory crackdowns. For example:

• SEC scrutiny of fan tokens: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun investigating whether specific NFT projects qualify as securities, which could affect the future of fan tokens.
• China’s strict control of cryptocurrencies: China has banned most cryptocurrency transactions, which limits the development of Web3-related industries in the Chinese market.

Technical and User Experience Issues

Web3 still faces user experience challenges, such as high gas fees and complex wallet operations:

• Ethereum gas fee problem: Transaction fees on the Ethereum network are relatively high, making small-scale NFT transactions costly. For instance, in 2021, users often had to pay over $30 in gas fees just to buy a $10 NFT.
• Complexity of Web3 products: Many Web3 applications are still not user-friendly for the general public. For example, users need to connect a MetaMask wallet to access NFT marketplaces, unlike traditional e-commerce’s one-click purchase model.

Future Outlook

Web3 is revolutionizing the sports, music, and fashion industries, making them more decentralized, transparent, and efficient. The combination of blockchain, NFTs, smart contracts, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) brings new business models and interaction methods to brands, creators, and consumers. Below are some quantifiable future predictions:

Sports Industry

Web3 will further promote athletes’ personal branding. Athlete NFTs are expected to become mainstream, with NFT tickets and fan tokens becoming standard. Decentralized sports betting markets and DAO-managed clubs may also emerge.

• Sports NFT Market Size: According to a report by Market Decipher, the global sports NFT market was valued at $2.6 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $41.6 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.3%.
• Blockchain Applications in Sports: According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the use of blockchain in the sports market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9% by 2027, driven primarily by blockchain-based fan engagement platforms.
• Global Smart Stadium Market Size: Deloitte predicts that the global smart stadium market will exceed $8 billion in 2024 and grow to over $38 billion by 2033.

Music Industry

The application of music NFTs will become more widespread. Artists will establish direct economic relationships with fans, and decentralized streaming platforms will challenge traditional music giants like Spotify and Apple Music.

• Music NFT Market Size: According to a forecast by Business Research Insights, the global music NFT market is expected to reach $2.85 billion in 2024 and grow to $20.81 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 28.23%.

Fashion Industry

Digital fashion will take up a larger share of the Metaverse and social media spaces. Blockchain-based supply chain management will become standard practice in the luxury fashion sector.

• Metaverse User Engagement: According to Gartner, by 2026, 25% of people globally are expected to work, shop, and socialize in the Metaverse for at least one hour per day.
• Blockchain Use in Luxury Supply Chains: PwC research indicates that by 2025, around 60% of global luxury brands will use blockchain for supply chain management and tracking, helping verify product authenticity and combat counterfeiting.
• Growth of the Digital Fashion Market: GlobalData forecasts that digital fashion and virtual apparel will experience rapid growth over the next five years, with the global digital fashion market projected to exceed $7.705 billion by 2032.

Conclusion

Web3 is impacting multiple industries with an irreversible trend and is creating entirely new economic models. From NBA Top Shot’s digital basketball cards, to Steve Aoki’s music NFTs, to Nike’s digital sneakers and Dolce & Gabbana’s digital fashion collection, these cases show that Web3 is no longer just a technical concept—it is a transformation happening in the real world. For brands, creators, and investors, seizing the opportunities brought by Web3 will be key to gaining a competitive edge in the future market.