Game studio Lucid Sight and Major League Baseball are joining forces to create a game called MLB Crypto Baseball. Similar in concept to CryptoKitties the game will allow users to exchange Ethereum’s cryptocurrency, Ether, for officially licensed digital collectables. It is the first blockchain game linked to a global sports league.
“We talked a long time ago about bitcoin and whether we should accept it as payment for MLB.tv and some of our other products, and we opted not to,” explained MLB’s executive VP of gaming and new business ventures, Kenny Gersh, in a statement. “At the end of the day we decided that isn’t our business, we’re not in the speculation business. We’re in the business of delivering baseball to fans. So this game is a more interesting intersection of blockchain technology and what we do.”
Each MLB Crypto Baseball collectible is secured by blockchain. That means each item a user acquires, whether that be an interactive collectible or other officially licensed digital merchandise, will be uniquely owned.
“This is a historic day for sports fans and blockchain enthusiasts alike as Lucid Sight and MLB have joined forces to create an entirely new genre of sports collecting and digital scarcity,” said Lucid Sight co-founder and chief executive, Randy Saaf, in a statement.
SportTechie Takeaway
The announcement of MLB’s new game represents the league’s first investment in the world of cryptocurrencies. Other sports have already been exploring that space. The Sacramento Kings, for example, recently announced a new initiative that involves mining the currency Ether for charity. The initiative, MiningForGood, will support Build. Black. and will take place inside of Golden 1 Center, one of the more technologically advanced arenas in the country.