IT’s the cryptocurrency that’s sweeping the football landscape.
Socios is a platform that allows sports fans to buy into their favourite club and potentially shape their future.
By buying fan tokens at £2 a pop, you can have say on matters like stadium names, or what song could be played as your team’s entrance music.
Already, the likes of Arsenal, Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester City and PSG have jumped on board with the craze.
The latter included some payment with the tokens in Lionel Messi’s massive £25million-per-year deal with the French giants.
This season, defending Serie A champions Inter will have their own fan tokens sponsoring their famous blue and black shirts.
So, what made the world’s biggest sports teams embrace the blockchain technology?
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY
How fan tokens benefit the clubs that are sold by Socios boils down to money.
After the coronavirus pandemic stripped many of the world’s most famous teams’ finances, avenues of making back lost revenue have never been more important.
Socios split the proceeds 50/50. So for every token costing £2, the club gets £1. And you can buy more than one token.
Since its launch in 2019, astonishingly 1.2million have downloaded the app. And they reportedly have over 900,000 active users.
It’s a service that provides fans, at a cheaper cost, the opportunity to have a say at their club.
Of course, Manchester United and Juventus trade their shares publicly, but they would cost a lot more than a Socios fan token.
This is not a share of a company, but a share of influence how they are run. One token equals one vote.
For example, when Socios-sponsored clubs Barcelona and Juventus faced off in a preseason friendly on August 8, token holders were allowed to vote on which pre-approved slogan would appear on a trophy that the team captains held before the game.
CONTROVERSY
Socios is expanding at a rapid rate – not just in football too.
The NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers have all signed up to the scheme.
While Formula 1’s Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo teams, and Indian Premier League cricket teams Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings are all now financial beneficiaries of supporters buying fan tokens.
But some supporters are just not quite sure.
It allows for fan engagement from all over the globe, with many ‘investors’ not regular visitors to the stadium or are so-called ‘true-fans’.
The Football Supporters’ Association thoughts are: “Socios attempts to monetise fan engagement which the leagues and clubs have committed to doing for free. There should be no financial barrier to engaging with your football club.”
In 2019, a group of West Ham fans revolted on plans for the club to partner with Socios by launching a ‘Don’t Pay To Have Your Say’ campaign.
In the end, both parties pulled out.
When Arsenal announced they were siding with Socios, it was met with skepticism from the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust.
“It is a concern that the club is trying to monetarise fan opinion and engagement,” they wrote, revealing they weren’t consulted on the plans.
The Gunners famously said they wanted to engage with more fans after the European Super League debacle had miffed many.
When the Arsenal deal with Socios was announced, the FSA slammed the decision.
“One day saying you’re committed to supporter engagement. The next day, trying to monetise it.”
CAN YOU MAKE MONEY?
Like BitCoin, fans buy their tokens using real money.
The price of tokens changes over time, given team performance, or a potential blockbuster signing.
Fans can exchange or sell their tokens like on the stock market with other Socios users.
Interestingly, before Messi signed for PSG a fan token cost around £16. When the deal was concluded, it rose to around £35.
Should the Argentinian lead them to Champions League glory, they could potentially rocket further.
IT’S HERE TO STAY
Whether or not you’re a fan, Socios founder Alexandre Dreyfus is promising more to come.
More deals are slated to be in the pipeline that will be completed, if not before the real-life transfer window,then after it as the season gets going.
There are plans to conquer the NFL in America too.
“We’ve proven that we are here to stay,” he told City A.M.
“This is not about you believing it [or not] because it is happening. The question is whether you embrace it now or later.”
And Dreyfus is adamant that Socios doesn’t exist to fleece the fans.
“We’re not here to take money from the fans,” he said.
“What we do is not bad; we are not bad actors. We aren’t worse than Facebook or TikTok. It’s just the monetisation is different.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
