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The National Basketball Association’s Cleveland Cavaliers launched Cavs Rewards, a fan engagement program on the Avalanche network.

The program is built in collaboration with Uptop, a fan engagement company, backed by PayPal, who most notably built out the Empire State Building’s loyalty platform, also built on Avalanche. It’s touted by Uptop as a ‘first-of-its-kind’ program in professional sports, perhaps indicating that this is the first ‘onchain’ loyalty program a pro sports team has rolled out.

The program itself (Cav Rewards) is a free-to-join program where fans can earn ‘Cavs points’.

These points can be earned by connecting a debit or credit card of your choice, and using that connected card in the following ways:

Fans can then redeem these points for rewards such as game day tickets, exclusive VIP experiences, team merchandise, memorabilia and digital badges.

Chris Kaiser, EVP & CMO of Cleveland Cavaliers said:

After signing up with an email and creating a ‘Cavs ID’, the onboarding flow for Cavs Rewards is very straightforward and is seamless on mobile.

After the onboarding process, users are then prompted to connect a debit or credit card.

This is done easily through the fintech company Plaid, and after linking a card, fans are directed to the home screen.

From there, fans can click on ‘Add Points’ (1), ‘Earn Points’ (2), ‘Rewards’ (3) or (4) ‘Join as a Business’.

Analysis & Concluding Thoughts 🧠

When Starbucks closed its loyalty program, Starbucks Odyssey, many concluded that Web3 loyalty programs simply don't work.

However, I believe this may have been specific to specific industries rather than loyalty programs as a whole.

The biggest opportunity for Web3 loyalty in my view is in sports, where fan loyalty is deeply ingrained.

Rather than forcing customers through a product or digital activation to create loyalty, sports already have that foundation.

At the end of the day, the majority Starbucks customers are not fiercely loyal to a coffee brand and don’t want to see where the beans they just drank were farmed.

But fans of a sports team will clamour at the thought of getting one inch closer to the crest they adore.

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Where is Blockchain Additive? ⛓

While I'm still uncertain whether on-chain loyalty programs are a complete game-changer compared to Web2 predecessors — blockchain technology adds value here.

Blockchain's composability and the ability to connect multiple third parties without APIs simplify connectivity. Sponsors can engage on a single, more open platform, without needing additional integrations. And that’s what I like about this launch.

The real power here lies in engaging fans based on their journey both inside and outside the stadium.

For example, if fans buy lunch or dinner near the stadium, that becomes part of their fan identity. As an Arsenal fan, I often visit the same spots before games. This part of my experience is disconnected from my fandom but is inherently part of my fan identity. Bridging this, could very well be a game-changer.

I’ve often said that Web3 loyalty programs die quickly when siloed, so this open approach makes sense.

The Challenges of Monetisation 💸

Of course, we must bring this back to the bottom line and as always with these loyalty programs, the challenge of monetisation.

I see why fans might purchase points, for example, if they attend only a few games a season and can’t accumulate points naturally. However, I'm unsure whether this revenue will be significant enough for the Cavaliers. Broadly, while this could become a powerful engagement tool funnelling thousands of fans into a loyalty ecosystem, it remains to be seen if the Cavaliers find this data and connectivity worthwhile in the long run. If the connectivity and data become a gold mine for them to various degrees, then perhaps revenue won’t matter.

Will this ultimately become a cost centre? Or the gold mine I referenced earlier?

Either way, it's fascinating to watch this evolve and whether the blockchain proves to be an additive layer or merely a more efficient tool for digital engagement.

Both outcomes could be valuable, and it will be interesting to see how the Cleveland Cavaliers develop this.

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