CYPRIOT CLUB APOLLON FC ASK FANS TO TAKE CHARGE AND PICK THE TEAM
QUICK TAKE
- Supporters will use Apollon FC ($APL) Fan Tokens to choose the formation and first eleven for a friendly with local rivals Aris Limassol on Friday October 9th, on blockchain-based fan voting & rewards app Socios.com.
- Apollon FC compete in the top tier of Cypriot football and have won 3 domestic championships. The club have also reached the Group Stages of the Europa League on 4 occasions.
- Socios.com have launched Fan Tokens — digital assets that give owners the right to vote in polls and earn rewards — with 11 major clubs including FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus. Dozens more leading clubs are set to launch Fan Tokens before the end of the year.
LIMASSOL, October 02nd 2020: Cypriot First Division club Apollon FC have taken fan engagement to the next level by asking supporters to pick the team for an upcoming friendly match with rivals Aris Limassol.
Fans will use $APL Fan Tokens to vote in a series of polls on blockchain-based fan voting and rewards app Socios.com, first choosing the formation, before selecting players for each position.
The game will take place on the 9th of this month and will be broadcast through Apollon club channels. Voting in the polls began today (Friday October 2nd) and will continue into next week.
Apollon Limassol launched their Fan Token in August, joining FC Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, AS Roma, Atletico de Madrid, Galatasaray, CA Independiente and esports organisations OG and Team Heretics in doing so. Turkish club Trabzonspor became the latest side to join Socios.com when they launched their Fan Token in mid-September.
Hundreds of thousands of fans around the world have downloaded the Socios.com app and began using Fan Tokens to engage with their favourite clubs and become involved in the decision-making process.
Examples include Juventus fans using the app to choose the club’s new goal celebration song, as well as to decide on a limited edition redesign of the club’s iconic ‘J’ logo and the design of the first team bus for the 2020/21 season. Supporters of FC Barcelona placed a unique fan designed artwork at the heart of the Camp Nou dressing room, Roma fans delivered questions direct to head coach Paolo Fonseca in a live press conference and PSG fans chose a unique message for the captain’s armband as well as voting on their end of season awards through the app.
Dozens more clubs from football and other sports are primed to join the app — which will soon include Chat, Games and a Leaderboard feature — before the end of 2020.
Apollon FC Head Coach Sofronis Avgousti said: “As a club, we want to have a connection with our fans and represent them in the best way possible.
“We believe that Socios.com is the best tool to achieve this, to give them decision making power in various club matters and build an effective communication stream which will help our club both commercially and operationally. Starting from next week’s friendly game, we will give our fans the chance to help me and the rest of the team with the selection and hopefully, they will appreciate the fact that we value their opinion!”
Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO and founder of Socios.com said: “Apollon have laid down a huge marker for what is possible when it comes to fan engagement.
“Sports teams are nothing without their supporters and Apollon are giving their fans the ultimate vote of confidence by letting them take charge and pick the team — albeit just for one friendly match!
“This is the kind of poll we dreamed of when we were just getting started — unprecedented fan engagement. It’s the kind of poll that truly builds a stronger connection between fans and their clubs, which has been our mission since day one.
“We look forward to more polls and fan engagement activity like this in the future with Apollon and our other partner clubs.”
-ENDS-
For Further Information:
Chiliz / Socios.com
Andrew Clarke — Head of PR
For more information please visit www.socios.com
About Socios.com
Socios.com launched in late 2019. To date, 11 major sporting organisations, including FC Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain have launched Fan Tokens on Socios.com. Fan Tokens are digital assets that provide owners with engagement opportunities, such as voting rights, the ability to compete in leaderboards and forthcoming features including Chat and Games. Fan Tokens also enable holders to earn club-related rewards, as well as discounts and other benefits linked to their clubs and club sponsors — a USP boosted by the launch of the Socios.com ‘I Am More Than A Fan’ VISA Debit Card. Dozens more organisations from football and other sports are primed to launch Fan Tokens before the end of 2020, with many more IP holders set to join the Socios.com roster of partners which already includes MMA giants UFC. We expect Fan Tokens to become the next generation of transactional based engagement for sports fans.
