What is an NFT Ticket and Why Can’t it be Illegally Resold: Advantages and Case Studies

Hi there!

Sumi the voxel artist here.

NFTs have attracted attention in recent years, including the NFT art of unidentified artist "Banksy" that sold for approximately US $12 million. The pixel art of CryptoPunks sold for nearly US $24 million. That is the highest price ever paid.

See Introduction to NFTs – Beginner Series for more on NFTs and the blockchain.

Many people associate NFTs with the business of selling art but NFTs have recently also become popular as a practical service with built-in utility.

An "NFT Ticket" is one such service, allowing the holder to join future concerts and events.

In this article, I will introduce the advantages and disadvantages of NFT tickets as well as three case studies.

What is an NFT Ticket?

An NFT ticket is an innovative service that uses non-fungible technology to sell concert and event tickets as digital data, while also helping to prevent illegal behavior.

You can distribute and manage NFT tickets as digital data in the same way as conventional electronic tickets, and with the addition of NFT technology, you can retain a ticket semi-permanently while also preventing illegal counterfeiting or resale.

Advantages and Disadvantages

You can easily obtain and manage an NFT ticket as digital data, but what about the advantages and disadvantages of NFT tickets?

Let's start with the advantages first.

Advantages

Tickets cannot be counterfeited
Prevents the unauthorized resale of tickets
It’s easy to distribute, obtain and manage as digital data
Tickets are transferable
Ticket holders may be eligible for exclusive benefits

As mentioned above, NFT is a technology that uses blockchain technology to prove that digital data is non-fungible. Ticket counterfeiting, which was easily possible with paper tickets until recently, is no longer possible.

In addition, the illegal resale of tickets has been a problem for many years in Japan and other countries. There have been repeated acts of resellers buying up tickets for popular concerts and selling them at high prices. Meanwhile, in June 2019, the Anti-Scalping Law took effect in Japan, prohibiting the resale of tickets at high prices. With the addition of NFT technology, it is now possible to save the channel of resale and identify unauthorized resellers.

Furthermore, unlike conventional paper tickets, NFT tickets are digital data that can be carried on a smartphone just like electronic tickets, so holders can easily access them. What’s more, you don't have to worry about accidentally losing the ticket or throwing it in the trash by accident.

In the unlikely event that you can't attend a concert or an event, it has been common to resell the ticket officially or use a secondary website to resell it. However, it is illegal to sell at a higher price than the list price. On the buyer's side, there were various risks such as not receiving a ticket even though you made a payment online or not being able to enter due to the need to verify identity on the day of the event, depending on the event.

With NFT tickets, if you can't go to the event for some special reason, it can be possible to transfer it to a fan club member. As the transferer, you would be happy if you could give a ticket to someone who really wanted to go, and as a fan who couldn't obtain a ticket, you also would be happy if you were lucky enough to receive a ticket via the fan club.

NFT ticket holders will be recorded and clarified, so you would have new ways to enjoy, including participating in exclusive events or receiving special goods exclusive to NFT ticket-holders.

Disadvantages

As mentioned above, an NFT ticket seems to be all positive but the following disadvantages also exist.

The concept may be difficult to understand for those who are new to NFTs
You can’t hold a ticket physically.

NFTs are still a new technology, and it is true that understanding has not progressed in Japan, because in Japanese culture, people tend to think carefully about risks and compared to other technologically advanced countries, it is more difficult to accept new changes.

This could be a barrier to entry for ticket sellers, and it may take time to get used to it for those without an existing cryptocurrency wallet.

Additionally, NFT tickets cannot be physically owned like paper tickets, so it may be a disadvantage for those who want to keep tickets physically as a memento.

3 Examples of NFT Tickets

NFT tickets are spreading around the world. Here are three famous examples below.

Johnny & Associates

Johnny & Associates, which has many popular idol groups in Japan, started to convert some of its tickets into NFTs in 2022.

Its concert tickets are very popular and resale at high prices has been a long-standing issue. Thus, from the perspective of preventing unfair resale, you can’t transfer tickets, even to your family or friends.

Therefore, as the first NFT initiative, NFT tickets for the performance "JOHNNYS' Experience" in May this year were allowed to be transferred to family members or friends who are members of the fan club.

With NFT technology, there is no need to worry about being abused by unauthorized resellers, and it’s possible to identify suspicious people who have repeatedly resold tickets.

Johnny & Associates has many enthusiastic fans, so expectations and attention for the future NFT ticket efforts are gathering.

DJ Steve Aoki

Steve Aoki, the DJ and music producer from Florida, the USA (his parents are both Japanese, but he was born and raised in the USA) has in recent years become known as a creator of NFT art and a collector of famous NFT art including Bored Apes and CryptoPunks.

Aoki has said that "NFT revenue exceeded music revenue," and he is said to be a pioneer in the adoption of NFTs in the music industry.

In 2022, he launched an Ethereum NFT membership club. Members who are NFT owners are eligible to receive a variety of exclusive benefits, including access to live performances, virtual metaverse concerts, and other events.

Steve Aoki says the goal of the fan club is to provide long-term benefits to the fans and reward them for their contributions to the community.

By using NFT technology, which you can retain semi-permanently, for fan clubs, it has become easier to distribute rewards to people who are involved in the community and fans who support them.

I'm personally looking forward to the future efforts of Steve Aoki, who is always active in the NFT space.

Paris Saint-Germain

The French football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) boasts famous football players including Messi and Neymar (as of October 2022).

During their Japan tour held in July this year, the French club played against three teams, Kawasaki Frontale, Urawa Red Diamonds, and Gamba Osaka. Two categories of VIP seats were sold as NFT tickets: “Platinum VVIP NFT Ticket” for 10 million Yen and “Gold VVIP NFT Ticket” for 1 million Yen.

In this way, the sports industry has also started with the use of NFTs.

I'm also looking forward to the NFT tickets trend in various other industries in the near future too.

For those who regularly participate in concerts and events, NFT tickets are a plus because they can prevent illegal counterfeiting and resale. It also has the potential to gradually spread in Japan in the future, so if you have the opportunity, why not try it out?

As always, we welcome comments and questions in the discussion section below.

Thank you!

Sumi