Futbol, Football or Soccer? Three Ways NFC Technology Is Transforming Sports

We’re all familiar with NFC-enabled fitness watches. We can use them to track our heart rate, find out how many steps we took and how many hours we slept, connect to our workout machines for a more precise workout and even use them to pay our gym fees.

Fitness watches are the “tip of the spear” for NFC use in sports. NFC is being implemented in all different facets of the sports industry — from authenticating memorabilia to buying tickets to accessing wearables. They’re even being embedded into futbols (or, depending on your location, footballs or soccer balls).

Explore Your Favorite Teams With NFC

The NBA and FIFA World Cup recently announced the use of NFC technology in their sports products. The official match ball of the FIFA World Cup incorporates NFC technology with location-aware chips that offer challenges and competitions to customers who purchase the ball. And at the beginning of the NBA season, it was announced that Nike would be creating NBA jerseys that are NFC-enabled for fans to purchase. Fans can tap their smartphones on the jersey tags and discover player stats, enjoy personal playlists and even purchase tickets. The jerseys and soccer balls both offer unique customer experiences enabled by NFC technology.

NFC Identifies Authentic Memorabilia

How disappointed would you feel if you found out that the signed picture of your favorite athlete you got when you were 10 years old was a fake? Sports memorabilia can be among our most cherished collectibles, and NFC technology is helping to keep it that way. Emmitt Smith, former Dallas Cowboys football Hall of Famer started an organization called Prova to help identify non-authentic memorabilia and bring counterfeit goods like autographed helmets and jerseys to an end. Prova published an app called LEGIT which interacts with NFC–enabled Prova SmarTags on sports memorabilia and lets the user know the item’s history including previous sales and autograph records.

A New Ticketing Experience Using NFC Technology

We’ve seen smart ticketing become more frequent in public transportation. This trend is making its way into the sports industry. With a new pilot program called Alfred by Tickets.com and Minor League Baseball, fans can use their smartphones to enter games without the hassle of a paper ticket. Using NFC technology, tickets can be accessed and used digitally by tapping your smartphone at a kiosk or entrance to attend the game. Since so many people who attend baseball and football games carry smart devices, the people behind Alfred by Tickets.com believe that NFC will change the way we interact with sporting events.

NFC technology is making its mark across the sports world, and improving the customer experience. Whether you want to be sure that your autographed cleats are authentic, you want to avoid fumbling around with a paper ticket or you want a personal experience with the sporting goods you purchase, NFC can make it a reality. To find out more about how NFC technology is changing the world, visit www..