As the world eagerly anticipates the 2024 Olympics in Paris, we are excited to share how this groundbreaking initiative from ProTouch Africa, and enabled by Blocksport, is celebrating Africa’s top talent and shaping the future for the next generation of African athletes and fan engagement.
What is Podium Pursuit?
An ambitious initiative out of Africa, inspired to activate a purpose-led community, drive interactivity, and unleash alternative revenues far beyond traditional sponsorship. The Podium Pursuit Collective aims to build a new, sustainable model to support African athletes to perform on the world stage, while championing a more positive future for humanity.
Vision and Goal
The vision is to unlock the potential of top performing athletes from Africa and power possibility, by building the World’s first fan-owned Athlete Impact Fund. This fund, specifically for athletes from Africa is built on blockchain technology and leverages tokenization.
The goal is to assemble an ecosystem that brings together athletes, fans and brands, fostering a fan community that celebrates and supports Africa’s sporting talent.
Achievements to Date
- Athlete Network:: a network of over 4,500 top-performing athletes from 54 African nations, across 36 sports codes.
- AI-Powered Marketplace: Digital Athlete Profiles featured in an African Athlete Exchange, providing top-performing athletes with a platform to connect with brands who share their values.
- Global Fanbase: These athletes have a combined global fanbase of 30-million, providing the opportunity to ignite a vast audience to monetize through engagement and interactivity.
- Beta Launch: Already live in Beta, its “Digital ClubHouse” connects fans with their favorite athletes and teams, with up-to-the-minute news, results and rewards.
Role of Blocksport
The Podium Pursuit Collective is built on the cutting-edge Blocksport technology, serving as the platform to enable its digital engagement strategy. Blocksport provides a comprehensive suite of features that activate fan interactivity, unlock value and enhance the fan experience while providing the ability to support and promote the success of African Athletes:
- Digital ClubHouse: A central hub where fans can access aggregated news feeds, social media walls, live blogs of major sporting events, a match center with scores and statistics, and individual athlete results from international events.
- Streaming and Content: Blocksport’s platform allows streaming of game highlights and exclusive, behind-the-scenes content generated by users and athletes.
- Merchandise and Collectibles: Fans can purchase exclusive merchandise and collect digital collectibles, representing their favorite nations, sports and athletes.
- Fan Interactivity: The platform encourages fan participation through prediction games, polls, voting, and fan missions that unlock even more value with rewards for engagement and information sharing.
Support for Athletes
The first phase of Podium Pursuit provides athletes the ability to build their brands using their Digital Athlete Profiles, akin to LinkedIn for Africa’s top sporting talent. These profiles provide a deeper understanding of the athletes’ stories, ambitions, and achievements for fans and brands. Podium Pursuit also supports athletes through access to:
- Discounted Airfares: for travel to competitions on the World stage.
- Crowdfunding Platform: to raise funds for sports campaigns, with successful campaigns already having aided the SA Hockey Association’s Women’s Hockey 5s Team World Cup campaign and the Men’s Field Hockey Team, who have qualified for Paris2024..
- Performance Index Algorithm: A ranking system based on an athletes’ international governing body ranking and their social media following, will determine access to annual funding from the soon-to-be-launched Athlete Impact Fund.
Future Prospects
The Podium Pursuit Athlete Impact Fund, leverages tokenization and will be the World’s first fan-owned impact fund for athletes. Additionally, selected Athlete Ambassadors will receive Athlete Ambassador Tokens, entitling them to a profit share in return for promoting Podium Pursuit and helping to onboard more athletes and their fans.
Podium Pursuit, powered by Blocksport, is set to revolutionize the way African athletes connect with their fans and access support, driving a more inclusive and supportive future for sports in Africa. Join us in this groundbreaking journey to empower African athletes and celebrate their potential on the global stage.
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