NFTs are ready to disrupt the ticketing world

The last few months have seen NFTs wielded by digital creators to take ownership over their craft and content. Now other industries are beginning to understand the real-world value that these nifty decentralised tokens can provide.

One of the most promising immediate perfect fits for NFT tech is the events industry. Ticketing has always been an expensive process, prone to scams, authenticity issues and reliance on monopolies. NFTs offer solutions for these issues and more.

How NFTs can be used for ticketing

NFTs are, in essence, unique digital tokens stored on the blockchain. Once they are minted (created) onto a blockchain (a ledger system that is decentralised and therefore secure and transparent), they can be sold and transferred to customers digitally. Customers then store their NFTs in a secure digital wallet that can be accessed by any device.

NFTs can represent any form of unique information, such as an event ticket. And event organisers can mint the required number of unique NFT tickets onto their chosen blockchain. That's just the beginning.

NFTs can also be programmed to set a sale or even run the sale as an auction where people can bid for tickets. Customers can then purchase the NFT tickets and store them in their wallets, which can be accessed on their phones. The NFT can then be easily produced when customers arrive at the event.

Advantages of the NFT approach to ticketing

When implemented well, NFTs have the potential to drastically improve the ticketing experience for both organisers and attendees. Some of the top benefits are:

• Preventing scams and fake tickets: The transfer of NFTs from initial sale to any subsequent resale is recorded immutably on the blockchain, so all parties involved can easily verify the authenticity of the ticket. In cases where resale of tickets is strictly forbidden, NFTs can be programmed as non-transferrable, so they physically cannot be moved to another buyer. These properties can make scalping tickets extremely challenging.
   
• Perpetual revenue: As programmable digital assets, NFTs can have built-in rules for resales, merchandise, content, and royalty splits. This means that the organiser can determine profit sharing percentages for any future resales or downstream creative content on secondary markets and reliably receive these funds knowing they are unalterable within the NFT's coding.
   
• New revenue opportunities: NFTs put tickets into the realm of programmable money, opening unlimited potential for new revenue opportunities. For example, resale of NFT tickets as collectables, using NFT tickets as a gateway for giving food and drink deals, and rewarding fans who have collected a certain number of event tickets.
   
• Reduce costs: The costs associated with minting and selling NFTs are negligible in comparison to traditional ticketing infrastructure. A reduced production cost can also get a ticket which is unforgeable. Organisers and customers can quickly and absolutely validate the authenticity of every ticket on the chain and see the history of ownership.
   
• Fast production: An NFT can be minted, finalised, and ready to sell in less than one minute.

The system and the cost of NFTs

How purchasing system works is important. Purchasing NFTs with a reputable blockchain company should incur minimal costs. Costs will likely include a one-off fee for minting NFTs; however, there shouldn't be continued costs for storage. Organisers can pay for the transaction fee required to send NFTs to customers. Optionally, this cost can be paid by the customers themselves.

Minting and transaction fees can be paid through a company's spending blockchain token. Some tokens are designed to remain stable and only fluctuate fractionally within the market. NFTs can cost less than 0.1 USD for each NFT mint.

There are many ways to implement a fair value NFT ticketing system and find a solution to meet the specific needs of the fans, organisers, and NFT provider. Moreover, doing it the right way will deliver fans what they have been asking for. They've been calling for and waiting for a legitimate, immutable, scalper-proof ticket for years. With NFTs, they're just a digital wallet transaction away.