Tottenham Hotspur taps Chiliz blockchain for Web3 fan token

September 28, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain

Spurs becomes the first Premier League team in two years to issue its own fan token on the Chiliz blockchain.

Tottenham Hotspur will become the latest Premier League team to tap into blockchain technology to issue and manage its own Web3 fan token to drive supporter engagement and rewards.

Spurs will issue the fan token through Socios.com, the fan engagement platform built on the Chiliz blockchain that has attracted over 80 major sporting teams from different codes around the world. The platform enables teams to issue and manage fan tokens, digital collectibles and real world rewards, while users can participate in DAO-like decisions involving their favourite teams.

Spurs join the likes of Premier League champions Manchester City, Arsenal Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan,Atlético Madrid and A.S. Roma, which are some of the most prominent teams in professional football making use of blockchain to innovate engagement with supporters.

The launch will allow $SPURS token holders to take part in onchain voting on a variety of team dynamics, including potential kit changes. Spurs will also partner with MatchWornShit, the platform that facilitates auctions of jerseys worn by players during games that are authenticated on the Chiliz blockchain.

Tottenham Hotspur's official announcement of its fan token. Source: Socios.

Commenting on the partnership, Tottenham commercial sales director Ryan Norys said that the fan token will build on its existing membership scheme with a “new range of club-related rewards and experiences.”

Speaking directly to Cointelegraph, Chiliz and Socios CEO Alexandre Dreyfus said that talks have been ongoing with Spurs since 2022. He also said that the club would use Socios while simultaneously integrating their fan token into their own loyalty programme and mobile app in the future.

$Spurs tokens are set to be launched on Oct. 4 and will be listed across cryptocurrency exchanges that support Chiliz tokens. Socios users in the United Kingdom can also expect to see disclaimers on fan token offerings from Oct. 8, as the marketing of cryptoasset promotions comes under the auspices of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

This will require stricter rules for advertising as well as a disclaimer warning investors of potential total losses investing in cryptocurrencies or fan tokens.

Manchester City, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton, Leeds and Crystal Palace are the other Premier League outfits that manage fan tokens on the platform, with Dreyfus noting that the ongoing cryptocurrency bear market has hindered onboarding of teams over the past year.

Fan tokens have become a significant source of revenue as teams look to leverage digital technologies to drive user engagement. Chiliz estimates that its blockchain platform has handled over $400 million in revenue for teams and leagues since 2018.

Chiliz was originally built as an ERC-20 token ecosystem but shifted onto its own layer-1 blockchain that is a fork of the BNB Chain in May 2023. Operating on a proof-of-stake authority (PoSA) consensus mechanism is touted to deliver shorter block times, reduced fees, and lower energy consumption, while being EVM-compatible allows it to remain compatible with Ethereum development tools.

The International Cricket Council is also looking to leverage blockchain technology to drive fan engagement during the upcoming 2023 Cricket World Cup in India. NEAR Foundation’s blockchain operating system will serve as the backbone for a Web3 fan engagement app during the six week global competition.

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Cricket World Cup to feature Web3 fan app as ICC taps into Near blockchain

September 27, 2023 Coin Telegraph

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The International Cricket Council will leverage Near’s Blockchain Operating System to power a Web3 fan engagement app during the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has partnered with Near Foundation to build a blockchain-powered Web3 fan engagement app for the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India, which promises to reach hundreds of millions of fans over the next six weeks.

Cointelegraph spoke exclusively to ICC head of digital Chris Donovan and Near CEO Finn Bradshaw, who unpacked details of the Web3 mobile app aiming to drive fan engagement before, during and after matches at the global sporting event in India.

The ICC’s first foray into the world of Web3 was the creation of a nonfungible token (NFT) platform called FanCraze in 2022 that gave fans the ability to own highlights of historic moments from various ICC tournaments. Donovan said that it laid the foundation for future Web3 exploits:

“We loved the community that grew around that product, so we have been looking for other use cases that help strengthen our fans’ love of cricket.”

The app will allow fans to play prediction games requiring strategy selections for games during the competition. Fans will earn points reflecting their selections and the actual outcome of matches, counting toward leaderboards and rewards during the competition.

*The ICC’s fan engagement app, as featured in its announcement video. Source: Near Protocol*

Donovan said that cricket’s governing body and Near share a similar vision for how Web3 technology can improve digital experiences for fans and that Near’s Blockchain Operating System’s interoperability with other networks was a key factor in the partnership:

“A big part of that is about creating products with greater interoperability across blockchains.”

While Near is a layer-1 blockchain, it features scalable infrastructure supporting communication, smart contracts and transaction capabilities with other blockchain ecosystems. Bradshaw said this feature could prove useful as more use cases are explored in the partnership that ends in December 2025:

“The ICC is only focused on working with a single layer-1 blockchain partner for now, but they are aware of the Blockchain Operating System’s interoperability capacity.”

As Cointelegraph has explored at length, marketing and advertising in various sports have driven the adoption of cryptocurrencies and Web3 in general. Bradshaw believes that a Cricket World Cup being hosted in India presents another opportunity to present working use cases of blockchain technology.

“In partnering with the most popular sport on the sub-continent, we expect it to be a showcase for the ecosystem’s technology and partners in demonstrating what a mass-market Web3 application looks like.”

According to Bradshaw, Near Foundation’s business development team worked alongside the ICC for four months, researching and identifying use cases for the Cricket World Cup. The tournament begins on Oct. 5, and the final is scheduled for Nov. 19.

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Major Turkish sports club Fenerbahçe issues fan token on Ethereum

August 10, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Blockchain

Crypto presents an opportunity to create a significant revenue stream for sports clubs around the world, Fenerbahçe S.K. President Ali Koç said.

Fenerbahçe S.K., one of the three biggest sports clubs in Turkey, issued its own fan token on the Ethereum blockchain through a new partnership with the local crypto exchange Paribu. The initial presale of 500,000 unlocked tokens was completed on Aug. 9, netting the club 15 million lira ($1.75 million) in 30 seconds.

The club announced that the Fenerbahçe Token would have a maximum supply of 190,700,000 tokens in reference to 1907, the year Fenerbahçe was established. According to the project’s white paper, a total of 117 million treasure tokens would be created on smart contracts over the next 25 years on a yearly basis.

Fenerbahçe also included a roadmap for the token burn that would be triggered by the club’s achievements in soccer, basketball or volleyball. According to the white paper, there will be token burns in the event of a victory, championship or achievement in Europe.

Noting the dismal state of soccer amid the coronavirus pandemic, Fenerbahçe president Ali Koç said that the sports industry has to seek new revenue streams. He stated that being active in the crypto assets business is an important item in the club’s agenda.

Koç explained that Fenerbahçe met with 12 companies, both local and international, before issuing a fan token. After evaluating several criteria like the potential of a token listing, user base and technical infrastructure, the club picked Paribu as the technology partner for Fenerbahçe Token.

Speaking about the deal between two parties, Ali Koç said, “It’s not a sponsorship deal. It’s a 25-year-long business partnership.”

Paribu CEO Yasin Oral said that, due to Fenerbahçe Token being issued as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, it would be possible to list it on global platforms in the future.

Fenerbahçe is a rather late addition to the fan token hype in Turkey. Several sports clubs in the country have already issued fan tokens. More recently, the Turkish Union of Clubs, an association of clubs playing in Turkey’s primary soccer league Süper Lig, has partnered with Socios.com to explore digital revenue models.

Socios partners with Turkish soccer club union to explore digital revenue models

July 1, 2021 Coin Telegraph

alex

Turkey’s union of soccer clubs partners with Socios to improve fan engagement in the Turkish Süper Lig through technology and innovation.

The soccer world continues to seek out new revenue models amid the coronavirus pandemic, which saw the suspension of league matches in some countries, and new partnerships form to find sustainable answers in the digital space.

Representing soccer clubs playing in the Süper Lig, Turkey’s primary soccer league, the Turkish Union of Clubs has partnered with fan engagement platform Socios.com to promote innovation in the country’s soccer landscape, according to a July 1 announcement.

“Few countries in the world match the unique passion that Turks feel for the game of football,” Socios and Chiliz CEO Alex Dreyfus told Cointelegraph:

“This partnership will benefit the entire Turkish football ecosystem in a critical moment for the industry, in which it is crucial for sports properties to shift their fans’ role from passive to active.”

Socios already launched fan tokens for six Turkish soccer teams playing across different leagues. Along with over 40 global sports organizations, Turkey’s Alanyaspor, Bursaspor, Galatasaray, Göztepe, İstanbul Başakşehir and Trabzonspor are using fan tokens and Socios’ voting and reward app to engage and monetize their fans.

The new partnership makes the sports-focused blockchain company the fan engagement partner of the Union of Clubs. Socios will help the union to apply new technologies to Turkish professional clubs to improve fan engagement, generate new revenue models and increase financial sustainability.

As part of the deal, the Union of Clubs and Socios.com will co-host a number of workshops and seminars to engage the industry’s main players in conversations around the latest trends affecting the business of football, the announcement reads.

Ticket sales and streaming deals account for a big part of revenue for the soccer industry. Since the games are either suspended for a period of time or played without a full audience in most leagues during the pandemic, clubs are in need of fresh business models. Clubs see fan tokens as a strategic move to enhance their digital presence and stay closer to fans.

Spain’s national soccer team to launch fan token on Turkish platform

May 10, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitci

La Roja is launching a fan token in partnership with Turkish blockchain platform Bitci Technology.

The Spanish national soccer team will launch the world’s first national soccer team fan token thanks to a partnership between the Royal Spanish Football Federation and the Turkish blockchain platform Bitci Technology.

The token will launch on Bitcichain, and all tech infrastructure will be provided by Bitci Technology. According to a recent announcement, Bitci Technology will be the exclusive blockchain partner of the team during the initial three-year partnership, followed by an optional two-year period.

The partnership also makes Bitci a jersey logo sponsor of the Spanish national team. World-famous football players such as Sergio Ramos, David de Gea, and Paco Alcácer are going to wear Bitci-branded jerseys during training.

Bitci Technology founder Çağdaş Çağlar noted the Spanish national team’s massive influence over world soccer, stating: “This partnership marks the first blockchain-based fan token for a national football team.“

Royal Spanish Football Federation president Luis Rubiales stressed the importance of using cutting-edge technology, stating: “This partnership enables us to create more synergy and bond even further with Spanish National Football Team fans across the globe.”

Bitci Technology has previously partnered with Formula 1 team McLaren Racing and Turkey’s National Basketball Team to launch fan tokens. As reported earlier this year, European soccer team Rangers Football Club signed a sponsorship deal with Bitci. The Turkish crypto platform’s logo will appear on the Rangers First Team shorts, per the partnership.

While fan tokens have been primarily popularized by soccer teams such as FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus, they are increasingly being embraced across all branches of sports. As Cointelegraph reported last week, the world’s premier mixed martial arts league, the UFC, partnered with Socios to launch fan tokens on the Chiliz platform.

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