Sports fans who can’t attend games have been limited to watching on TV and discussing with their friends online. Taking that passion one step further we have seen the emergence of digital “collectables’: culture driven by products like the NBA’s Top Shot. Imagine one of a kind officially licensed clip that you can purchase much like many years ago you would have with a trading card or player stickers and you get Top Shot. Jack Settleman, a 24-year-old collector from the US, set the record for biggest buy on the NBA Top Shot marketplace, acquiring the Serial No. 23 moment of the Lebron James Legendary “Kobe Tribute” dunk for $47,500.

He suggests that this is just the latest step in digital fandom with many of his friends and peers growing up spending money on video game packs and “loot boxes”. For Settleman and others, NBA Top Shot offers real tangible value for their money, giving them a one of a kind collectable that they can experience with friends. “With physical cards, it’s just a photo,” Settleman says. “Your LeBron rookie card that’s worth thousands of dollars, it’s just a random picture of him in a Cavs jersey. These moments give you the ability to actually watch and have more meaning behind it.”

The NBA Top Shot platform trading moments for anywhere from $2 for “common” clips of lesser-known players to the incredible sum Settleman paid for his one of a kind LeBron James clip. It’s estimated the peer-to-peer platform has seen over $60M dollars worth of transactions showing the emerging power of these digital fandoms.

Though the rise of digital fandom has for many been seen as a positive this is a darker side, especially when that fandom is linked to video game packs or “loot boxes”.

Global gaming companies are estimated to make over $25 billion from loot boxes every year and in-game items now play a central role in many mainstream games. This now equates to over 25% of all global revenue for games publishers showing the transformative impact this has had on the industry.

However, governments around the world are now starting to take a closer look at this emerging culture with the Netherlands taking a hardline stance. Last October courts in the Netherlands fined EA Sports, publishers of FIFA and other sports games, with a €10 million fine for its loot box features. EA have denied that its purchasable “packs” constitute gambling.

Governments in Australia, Spain, and the UK are also looking more closely at this and whether tighter regulation needs to be placed on the games industry to protect younger players and those most at risk. The ability for young people to spend vast amounts, often of their parents’ money, is something that must concern the gaming industry.

Mistrust and technological shifts

Governments in Australia, Spain, and the UK are also looking more closely at this and whether tighter regulation needs to be placed on the games industry to protect younger players and those most at risk. The ability for young people to spend vast amounts, often of their parents’ money, is something that must concern the gaming industry.

This mistrust for traditional systems and investing has manifested itself in multiple guises from the rise of cryptocurrency and the explosion in the value of Bitcoin to the Reddit investor groups pumping up the price of Gamestop stock causing huge volatility and disruption in the stock market. This mistrust is also manifesting itself in the rise of collectables and digital culture as young people with access to cash want to invest and put their money into something they deem as valuable and meaningful to their sense of expression.