Sports Illustrated launches Box Office, a new NFT ticketing platform for small events
Sports Illustrated has made a groundbreaking announcement regarding the launch of Box Office, an innovative NFT ticketing platform built on Polygon.
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The renowned sports brand Sports Illustrated is making its debut in the primary ticket sales industry, adding to its existing Sports Illustrated (SI) Tickets secondary marketplace introduced just last year.
SI Tickets has traditionally focused on providing ticketing services for large-scale events such as sports matches, concerts, and theatrical performances.
However, with Box Office, Sports Illustrated is broadening its horizons and welcoming ticket listings from smaller community events that are often found on ticketing websites like Eventbrite or DICE. This expansion effectively means that the brand is now supporting smaller events in addition to its primary focus on larger events.
Not a rival of Ticketmaster
According to David Lane, CEO of SI Tickets, Box Office is not looking to rival the likes of Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, or AXS, but rather focuses on the self-service event sector.
The aim of Box Office is to make NFT ticketing accessible to everyone, regardless of age or technical expertise, by creating the first mass-market adoption of this technology. This means that individuals won’t need to go through a complicated blockchain tutorial or obtain a wallet to purchase their first NFT ticket.
ConsenSys, the Ethereum software studio, was responsible for developing Box Office, and its NFT tickets will be available through the SI Tickets mobile app. In addition, event organizers can incorporate various types of content, including photo and video highlights, collectibles, personalized messages, promotional offers, and loyalty rewards, to connect with their fans. This content can be uploaded and accessed before, during, or after an event.
Box Office plans to offer tickets for an upcoming youth football championship game in Texas that can accommodate a maximum of 2,000 spectators. The platform anticipates the availability of both complimentary and paid tickets through its collaborations with music venues, nightclubs, private parties, fitness and yoga studios, business conferences, comedy clubs, religious retreats, and charity organizers.
Post-pandemic live events
According to Johnna Powell, who serves as the Co-head of ConsenSys NFT on a global scale, the recovery of the global economy from the pandemic implies that live events, concerts, and sporting events will regain their pre-pandemic popularity. As a result, the confluence of these factors indicates that the demand for NFT event ticketing is likely to surge in the upcoming years.
Lane contends that Box Office’s fee structure is 20% less than that of Eventbrite. Additionally, Box Office allows ticket holders to transfer their tickets to secondary ticket platforms, such as Vivid Seats, SeatGeek, and StubHub, as well as NFT marketplaces, to resell their NFT tickets.
Sports Illustrated is introducing a 50-50 revenue split with event organizers and performers for resales, which will be tracked by monitoring the on-chain data of Box Office transactions. According to Lane, this new offering ensures that event organizers are no longer limited to hyperlocal Eventbrite-style landing pages, as they will be featured on the SI Tickets website alongside the most prominent sports, concert, and theater events in their vicinity.
Contributing to mainstream NFT adoption
Lane has underscored that Box Office prioritizes the widespread adoption of NFT ticketing over novelty, exclusivity, or limited availability drops. Box Office is designed to be accessible and applicable to all types of events. The platform is anticipated to serve as the gateway for millions to enter the blockchain ecosystem and obtain their inaugural NFT ticket.
Furthermore, users who procure a ticket via Box Office will receive a $10 bonus, which can be used to purchase tickets for any of the 250,000 high-profile events featured on the SI Tickets secondary marketplace.
