SOUTH African tech start-up Momint has helped launch the world’s first professional basketball team owned and managed by fans in the US.
Momin’s chief executive, Ahren Posthumus, has announced the launch of the world’s first basketball team owned and managed by fans called ATL 8IGH DAO. This Atlanta-based basketball team, will be the first fan-owned basketball team in the world to compete in a professional league.
Momint, a South African Web3.0/Blockchain company, will be providing The Basketball League with the blockchain infrastructure it needed to facilitate the creation of this pioneering fan-owned team.
The team will be run as a DAO – a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation – with fully automated administrative processes including payroll, purchases, and funding allocation. In addition to providing blockchain infrastructure, Momint will provide the platform through which individuals can vote on buying and trading players, hiring staff, marketing and more.
Unlike traditional companies, a DAO has no centralised leadership. All decisions are made by consensus of the group. Members can make proposals and everyone can vote through the incorruptible blockchain, making the process transparent and secure.
The DAO structure will enable teams to make full use of the opportunities available through the fourth industrial revolution and the new digital age. While basketball has historically represented a diverse range of communities and fans, these individuals have never been afforded the opportunity to make decisions that affect the players they support.
Momint has found a way to apply blockchain technology towards this particular use-case, creating the means to make sport team ownership more inclusive and diverse.
Momint said the success of this project would have potentially massive implications for sports development in South Africa.
“While sports teams have typically relied on state funding and / or the generosity of wealthy team owners, the DAO model of team ownership opens new avenues for the funding sports teams, especially in underprivileged communities. Decentralising team ownership will give fans a voice in decision-making and an opportunity to invest in South Africa’s future stars,” Posthumus said.
He said technology had fundamentally changed what was possible when it came to the way the world ran its economies and lived because now it could also helped to rethink the management of their favourite sport teams and athletes. This would have a compounding impact over the next decade, and with the growing understanding of how the blockchain operated, the future of sport would be more transparent, democratic and fair.
Momint would be working in partnership with 8IGH, a US-based blockchain company that aims to incorporate blockchain and financial literacy education to help bridge the gap in knowledge and access to blockchain technology and NFTs.
8IGH co-founder, Treyous Jarrells, said they found themselves within an exciting time in history.
“We are living through a digital revolution and are leading the way in finding creative applications of blockchain technology in a manner that solves our current problems. Incorporating blockchain technology into a pro basketball league as a DAO is groundbreaking,” Jarrells said.
BUSINESS REPORT