Football Tokenization, or How Top Clubs Engage New Fans
Recently, FC Barcelona has announced a brand new partnership. One of the most successful sports teams in the world will join forces with a blockchain team Chiliz. Partners will develop BAR — unique utility token available for fans on the Chiliz’s platform Socios.com. Holders will be able to vote for various club-related decisions like celebration songs or merchandise.
Surprisingly, Barça isn’t the first club to enter the crypto world. Several other teams have already enabled the marketing power of fan tokens, including Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain. As well, Chiliz isn’t the only platform for football-related tokens. For instance, Fantastec SWAP offers blockchain-based collectibles in partnership with Real Madrid, Arsenal, and Borussia Dortmund.
But what’s the thing with all these tokens? Why do more clubs invest in blockchain promo campaigns? Superorder helps to figure out how fan tokens work, why they may skyrocket, and what are the perspectives of this sector.
Fan Tokens in a Nutshell
To start with, there are different types of crypto tokens. You should know that they are different from coins aka currencies because tokens serve another purpose. Instead of enabling financial operations or payments, tokens prove the ownership. Thus, security tokens represent certain assets (just like stocks) while utility tokens deliver goods or services.
Fan tokens as we understand them always fall into the utility category. However, they also divide into two subtypes. Let’s check the differences and analyze why these tokens are popular among sports brands and users.
How Do Tokens Work?
Well, talking about the tech side, there are two different utility token types. They represent two approaches to building ecosystems based on fan tokens:
- Fungible. Equivalent assets that can be interchanged, similarly to fiat currencies. In our case, these tokens also act as in-system currencies using which fans can vote, purchase tickets, or VIP bonuses.
- Non-fungible. Unique things that are different from one another. For fans, these tokens are like collectible football cards. It’s possible to buy, sell, and swap them, but each piece remains exclusive.
Some companies refer to fan tokens as a completely new type. For instance, the mentioned Chiliz is a blockchain platform for fans and sports businesses. Basically, it has its own token — CHZ — based on the ERC20 standard and available on some exchanges like Binance. But it also develops unique tokens for clubs, including BAR for Barça. Fans can obtain these second-level assets on Socios.com for CHZ only.
Why Are Tokens Popular?
Overall, fan tokens are new tools for the old purpose — to engage existing fans, find new ones, and spread the word about sports brands. For instance, Josep Pont from Barcelona said that the launch of BAR will help to “make the club closer to fans around the world”. It seems like a good investment to attract the attention of innovation lovers.
Commenting on the tokens available on Socios.com, Chiliz CEO Alexandre Dreyfus noted that the solution connects fans from different regions. He explained that the majority of people aren’t in the stadiums, so clubs don’t have a universal tool to connect with them. Fan tokens should become a game-changer focused on global engagement.
Football Clubs With Own Tokens
As we’re talking about Chiliz here, mostly, let’s begin with this example. The platform already has six football tokens plus one project for OG, an esports team. Using a native app (Android, iOS), users can purchase and sell CHZ and club tokens, find them in a geo-based AR Token Hunt game, trade them, vote, and get bonuses.
Here are a few examples of the tokens:
- ASR for A. S. Roma, max supply — 10 million, price — €2. Italian club allows fans to vote for the training’s pitch name.
- ATM for Atlético Madrid, max supply — 10 million, price — €2. Fans of this club could choose the next player to interact with through the club’s Instagram.
- GAL for Galatasaray, max supply — 10 million, price — ₺10. Here, Turkish fans participate in voting to choose an entrance anthem for the stadium.
- PSG for Paris Saint-Germain, max supply — 20 million, price — €2. The test voting allows fans to choose a new motto for a captain’s armband.
- JUV for Juventus, max supply — 20 million, price — €2. In the first voting, fans have chosen a new home goal celebration song.
- WHU for West Ham United, max supply — 5 million, price — £2. As for now, this club doesn’t have votings but fans have condemned it already.
Tokens for Barcelona and Atlético Independiente are under development now. Later, Chiliz promises to add more voting power and benefits. For instance, fans will have access to unique merchandise, VIP tickets, meetings with players. There will be both obligatory voting results and consultary ones.
Apart from Socios.com, there are alternative blockchain platforms that develop tokens for football clubs. Nevertheless, they focus on collectibles instead of voting power, mostly. This form of engagement is also viable. It’s known that people love fantasy sports and swappable collections, so clubs expect significant returns.
As for the examples, there are a few famous names. Bayern Munich works with Stryking, Manchester City cooperates with Superbloke, and Juventus makes another blockchain deal — with Sorare. Fantastec Swap hosts tokens of Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, and Real Madrid. Chiliz also works on non-fungible tokens.
The Future of Tokenized Sports
Nowadays, the rise of fan tokens looks like a natural development of the crypto/blockchain industry. Innovations expand to new spheres, traditional businesses look for modern engagement ways. Arguably, football clubs have the largest audiences in the entertainment industry. Fans admire their teams, spend thousands on merchandise, and are parts of the brands, literally. Tokens can monetize this participation.
However, issues with West Ham fans show that the case requires further research. It’s essential not to disrupt communities by segmenting them on the basis of tokens. Rich users with voting rights may confront people who don’t hold tokens, and this may result in dangerous conflicts (especially, in the regions where fan movements are emotional like in Turkey).
All in all, the idea of fan tokens is promising. Based on marketing purposes solely, it can change the modern sports industry and, most importantly, improve the crypto adoption.
