Lionel Messi signed this football season for Paris Saint-Germain and the package included something unusual for a footballer: a one-time payment, believed to be worth around € 1 million made in PSG “fan tokens”. It was the result of a partnership signed by PSG with Socios.com that allows fans to use the cryptocurrency “Chiliz” to purchase tokens that allow them to vote on club-related matters and have other benefits. These interactions tended to be quite mundane, for example, Juventus asked what music they should play in their stadium and for AS Roma to choose the coach graphics, but the partnerships quickly grew to involve 46 football teams and about 100 sports teams around the world.
During the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis, football clubs suddenly lost 50% to 80% of their revenue and realized they had fans around the world that they could not reach with some of the traditional methods. such as the stadium, or even the TV where sporting events were suspended. Now according to an analysis by KPMG Football Benchmark, over 40 t-shirt sponsorship deals have been signed in the five major European leagues since the start of the pandemic, and Inter have doubled their revenue by switching from Pirelli to Socios.com.
A mini-revolution is underway as cryptocurrency-related businesses have started appearing on T-shirts. In July, AS Roma announced a three-year deal worth about $ 14 million a year with DigitalBits as the jersey sponsor. And recently the other team from Rome, SS Lazio, has also signed a partnership with Binance, one of the most important exchanges in the world. The Staples Center in Los Angeles, a structure that hosts the NBA, Wnba and Nhl games, will also change its name on Christmas day and will become the Crypto.com Arena, an agreement until 2041 for a return of approximately 700 million dollars..
Crypto is entering the world of sports therefore, just as countries are introducing regulation for the blockchain sector.
The fan token has therefore proved to be a way to bring the fans closer to the teams and increase fan engagement, without forgetting the NFTs, which made their debut in art and have now landed in sport: a Cristiano Ronaldo NFT was sold for 400 thousand. dollars in recent days. Above all, clubs are leveraging these technologies economically. In the crisis, the new platforms appeared to be the only ones willing to invest in football.
However, there is no lack of obscure points. An important aspect is also represented by the possibility of user profiling, a fundamental theme for today’s digital marketing. Several companies also exploit offshore structures and some are even ghosts. On the other hand, the platforms operate in an unregulated and very volatile sector, in which there is no shortage of risks: the PSG Fan Token, launched at two euros, was worth more than 42 euros on 9 August at the signing of Messi, while today it’s worth about $ 20. Even if clubs, more than trading and its risks, seem to be interested in the aspect of fan engagement. In addition to the economic one for their own coffers.
