COVID-19 disruption not-withstanding, fans will continue to find ways to satisfy their monster appetite for sports (spending upwards of $50 billion annually on sporting events in the US alone). But with each year, a growing percentage of this will go directly to the athletes, like “bits”—virtual currency—does on Amazon’s Twitch. Fortnite-style virtual arenas will host sporting events with tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of fans, and will include digital concessions and apparel linked to the tap of a key.
