When it comes to horse racing, the grandpa of all sports, not many people think that the sport has evolved much over the years. But they are wrong!
Horse racing is one of the most technologically advanced sports that has evolved quite a lot in the digital space. When we talk about horse racing, the first thing that comes to mind is betting and the adrenaline rush of the races.
However, horse racing doesn’t come that often.
I mean there are plenty of horse races throughout the year, but not many share the same prestige as the Kentucky Derby. So, you’ve just learned how to bet on the 2024 Kentucky Derby, but you have to wait once a year to show off your skills.
Unfortunately, in order to watch and bet on a big horse racing event, you have to wait a couple of months.
However, the evolution of digital horse racing made the sport available 24/7. The idea behind digital horse racing actually makes sense and in today’s article, we will dive deeper into digital horse racing and find out what it is about.
What is Digital Horse Racing?
Just as the name suggests, digital horse racing is basically a game based on random number generators (similar to slots), where there are different digital horses that race 24/7 with a randomized outcome.
The idea is to have a platform where horse races are organized every few minutes, and people can bet on them.
But how is digital horse racing different from the real sport?
Well, it is different in many ways. First of all, horses don’t come with unique traits and abilities, and the outcome of the race is based on a random number generator, not on data. However, there are different forms of digital horse racing platforms that come with unique features.
The Evolution of Digital Horse Racing
Digital horse racing evolved in many different ways over the years. What started as a simple horse racing simulator grew into revolutionary technology that might change the sport forever.
If you still haven’t guessed, we are talking about blockchain technology in horse racing. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen many new platforms like ZED RUN and Game of Silks that utilize blockchain technology in order to create a realistic representation of real-world horse racing.
Therefore, digital horse racing now isn’t only about betting on some pixels, it is much more than that.
Thanks to blockchain technology we can now own digital pieces (like in-game horses) and become a racehorse owner. These digital collectibles come in the form of NFTs that can be purchased and raced to earn money.
But the technology goes much deeper than that. Digital horse racing now allows you to breed your own horses by merging NFTs, selling breeding rights from champions, creating horses with unique traits that will be worth a lot of money, and much more.
You also get to train your horses in order to improve their skills and all of the actions are recorded on the blockchain.
Basically, this technology allowed horse racing fans to become racehorse owners and get a glimpse of what is like to compete in the Sport of Kings – only digitally.
There are even some companies that created digital horses that are exact representations of real-world horses. Basically, they’ve created an entirely new digital horse racing eco-system that is based on real-world horse racing.
How Will This Change the Industry?
Well, digital horse racing will have a huge impact on the sport in many different ways. First and most importantly, it allows the sport to generate new revenue streams. And with more money coming into the sport, the sport will be healthier and more popular.
Additionally, digital horse racing might be the ticket to attract the younger audience that is missing from real horse racing. Horse racing is a sport that dates back hundreds of years. But in order to survive many centuries in the future, we need a new generation eager to carry sport into the future.
Unfortunately, not many young people are interested in horse racing as a sport, and many of them consider the sport to be cruel to the animals.
Maybe the digitalization of the sport will make younger people more interested in horse racing. After all, these types of games would be more appealing to younger people who are used to playing games.
Would Bob Baffert be interested in owning a digital NFT horse after all?
Final Words
This technology advanced really quickly and we expect a lot of great things in the future. Just take a look at the digital horse racing scene 5 years ago. It was like an empty desert without much going on and nowadays we have a multi-million-dollar industry that changed horse racing as a sport.
Who knows where we will be heading in the future, but one thing is for sure, the digitalization of horse racing will bring a lot of benefit to horse racing as a sport.