English Premier League side Manchester City has agreed a deal with fintech blockchain company Chiliz to launch fan tokens on Socios.com.
The deal between the current league leaders and Socios.com is understood to be a partnership, not sponsorship agreement, and involves a revenue share.
The deal will allow City fans to use $CITY Fan Tokens – tradable, digital collectibles – to access VIP rewards, club promotions, games, AR-enabled features and voting rights in certain binding and non-binding club polls on Socios.com.
Commenting on the opportunity for fans, Stephan Cieplik, senior vice-president of global partnerships sales at City Football Group, said: “Fans will have access to fantastic competitions and VIP experiences and be able to vote on Club initiatives. Every existing registered ‘Cityzen’ will also be eligible for a free token so they can access the full range of benefits and rewards.
“We’ve been extremely impressed with how Socios.com have led the way in this space with other European clubs, and we are confident that we have the right platform to succeed and grow together.”
Alexandre Dreyfus, chief executive of Chiliz and Socios.com, added: “Socios.com and $CITY Fan Tokens will be hugely complementary to City’s global approach, providing fans around the world with unprecedented engagement opportunities, as well as unique digital, and – once restrictions are lifted – real-life rewards and experiences.”
In making the deal, City joins 24 major sporting organisations that have partnered with Chiliz to launch fan tokens and NFTs on Socios.com, including FC Barcelona, AC Milan, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain.
The company said it has major global expansion plans for 2021 and will increase its existing presence in Europe while targeting many more fan token launches in the UK, Asia and South America. Chiliz also recently announced a $50m (€42m) expansion into the US to target launches with the five major US sports leagues.
Chiliz $CHZ – a digital currency for sports and entertainment and the native currency of Socios.com – is among the top 35 cryptocurrencies in the world with a market capitalisation of $3.3bn.
