How blockchain can help you find the next Mbappé

The universe of blockchain is still full of possibilities, especially when it comes to sports.

Sports talent management system TalentIDO is stream-lined, secure, and innovative. On this platform, the approach to recruiting and developing sports talent is Web3-based. This opens a new method of athlete recruitment.

It offers users the opportunity to invest in human success within a decentralized, blockchain ecosystem. As an ordinary fan, you can become an investor in a football player.

Two crucial factors in finding new players

The conventional process of finding and promoting sports talents is very complex. Finding such people possessing something unique and original often requires two crucial factors: money and chance. In terms of sports recruiting, it means searching the world for gifted adolescents on the field. Professionals go to huge lengths to find the next Kylian Mbappé.

However, it is not always nearby. After all, would Zinedine Zidane have become the football legend he still is if he hadn’t been noticed by Jean Varraud when he was 15? Or Cristiano Ronaldo, noticed even younger by Aurélio Pereira and later by Fergusson? Probably not.

The legal matter of acquiring players

These recruiters need to nurture them and help them reach their full potential without letting them slip through their fingers. Enter the laws and lawyers, contracts, agents, and so much more to ensure the player stays with them. It doesn’t mean their new acquisition will get a dreamlike life out of it, though.

Historically players couldn’t decide where or when they could play and had no say in who could acquire their contract. If their club decided to sell them to another, it wasn’t within their right to say anything about it.

Legislation around the professional sports industry evolved to a better place since then. The Bosman case became a turning point in sports history.

Yet, not everything is solved. The process of establishing and signing contracts between different parties can still be risky for players, mostly because of the sheer lack of transparency and the liberties the people they’re interacting with can sometimes take.

A conflict of interest

Athletes aren’t always aware of their potential and/or not well enough informed to understand exactly what they’re signing up for.

They usually aren’t knowledgeable about the legal aspects of their work, which is why they often heavily rely on an agent supposed to defend their sole interest in exchange for a commission. It’s a sad reality that such a situation can be the perfect opportunity to take advantage of them for those whose ethics and morals are nonexistent.

These agents work not only for the player but also for the club the player plays at, risking a conflict of interest if a problem arises.

In other words, the whole process of scouring and recruiting talents takes place in an overly competitive market that routinely wastes a lot of money on outdated and time-consuming processes, is deeply lacking in transparency and keeps players out of the loop until final onboarding.

New evolution, new revolution!

TalentIDO mainly aims to support sports professionals to reach their full potential. This is through a different method of spots recruiting.

The main difference lies in the fact TalentIDO relies primarily on blockchain technology to attest and maintain records. It gives them the double advantage of securing these records from alteration and allowing greater transparency in the many exchanges on their marketplace.

The platform is based on 5 main concepts:

Sports marketplaces ecosystem. It’s where everyone can interact and share their values. Each sport will have its own marketplace comprising sellers, buyers, and assets.
Transparency. One of TalentIDO’s main goals is greater autonomy for players and clubs by removing unnecessary third parties, like agents, that can muddy things.
Decentralization and democratization. There is no main authority or anyone above. Everyone has a stake in the sports recruiting process, democratizing the sports recruiting market to a level never reached before.
Advertising and aggregation. With the different sports marketplaces, advertising becomes easier by creating synergies and opportunities for cross-promotion.
Token standard through an ICO (Initial Coin Offering). Spreading and expanding token implementation will bring an even wider and more engaged community.

With these concepts, TalentIDO offers everyone involved an innovative marketplace to display new training opportunities, to advertise positions and new amateurs, and to cross-promote sports across the whole industry.

In theory, everything seems great. In practical terms, though, how is it done?

Here is a video of how the TalentIDO platform works:

TAL and sports passports

Smart contracts and TALENT (TAL) tokens, precisely derived from blockchain technology, are a huge help in maintaining the standards TalentIDO aims at.

TAL tokens are the currency used on TalentIDO. It gives the network value by giving people a means of exchange, allowing anyone to make money by investing in the token. Users will need it for memberships, for buying and selling services and sharing benefits. They can also use TAL to increase rewards by participating in the platform through reviews, recommendations, and contributing content. Clubs and sports recruiters will need the token to access the marketplace in order to use Fieldoo platform services, like acquiring talent, signing up for opportunities, and fees related to the network.

Currently, anyone interested in the sports business can buy TAL to become a part of the network.

The real star of the marketplace, however, is the sports passports.

Sports passports are fairly simple smart contracts that don’t require technical knowledge to create. They can be compared to a digital CV for athletes that can be shared through a marketplace like TalentIDO. They stay immutable since they are created with blockchain technology. They stay in the hands of their holder and can’t be controlled or modified by anyone else.

Through the passport players can create a profile with all the information scouts and clubs might look for, like records of their professional journeys and basic information. They can add their career developments (wins/losses, played positions, teams signed, etc.), and even pictures and videos of their play.

TalentIDO might promote transparency but doesn’t lack security

All this data can be stored securely on the blockchain and can only be accessed by people with whom the player decides to share their profile (like scouts, clubs, associations, etc.). Players’ interests are safeguarded, and scouts can verify the date.

In addition to the welcome security, this system presents many advantages. For example, scouts won’t have to travel physically to find talent. They can scour the platform instead and only make a trip when a player catches their eye.

Offers can also be made through the platform.
All deal details will be laid out for all parties to see. It helps the player to control the process. They are more involved in the process and will have better access to what they are signing up for. They can digitally sign the contract, which will be recorded on their sports passports.

An opportunity for the sports industry

It’s becoming more and more evident that the sports industry must catch up with modern technology. What TalentIDO proposes is a system that should help build a better, hopefully healthier foundation for the future of sports recruiting. No more colossal amount of wasted resources, fewer chances of talent left overlooked. Blockchain technology can be the answer for all parties involved.

Through TalentIDO:

young sports players have a better chance of being noticed
sports recruiters can find new talent with less effort
clubs can reduce unnecessary costs when searching for and acquiring new athletes

Blockchain technology, especially smart contracts, allows everyone involved to stay on the same level, giving everyone involved a clearer view of the process.

TalentIDO is introducing the use of sports passports to the professional sports industry and is well on its way to revolutionizing it, thanks to its efficiency and transparency. By providing a platform that offers the perfect union of sports and blockchain, TalentIDO is writing the future where sports management is decentralized.