Distinguished Italian football club AS Roma announced that it will join Socios, a blockchain-based voting platform. AS Roma has partnered up with sports and entertainment blockchain firm Chiliz (which powers Socios) for this crypto initiative.
Chiliz broke the news in an official announcement published on July 19. In the announcement, Chiliz states that AS Roma will join its sports platform Socios and launch an AS Roma fan token. Through the use of this crypto tokens, fans will be able to vote in club-delegated decisions.
Blockchain has a diverse set of capabilities that enable it to empower any system that hopes to achieve decentralized, secure and transparent voting systems. Socios has utilized this very attribute of blockchain to allow fans to participate in a more intimate level with their favorite clubs and teams.
The blog post by Chiliz further explains that “the more fans vote and interact with the club through the app, the more rewards they can earn.” Through the Socios app, fans will get a chance to earn “once-in-a-lifetime experiences” and gain access to exclusive games, leaderboards, and merchandise. Examples of awards and activities that users can win a chance to participate in include naming a club facility and a voice in warm-up activities at the Stadio Olimpico.
Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO & Founder of Socios, welcomed AS Roma to Socios blockcain platform, saying:
“This partnership gives us the opportunity to educate a huge audience of mainstream consumers to the benefits of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, across Europe as well as Asia and Latin America. If you add up all the fan bases of our current partners, we’re already looking at a potential audience of hundreds of millions of sports fans and users for both $CHZ and Socios.com.”
He went on to boast that with the addition of another “legendary Series A club”, Socios is building an ecosystem of “top tier clubs, as well as a huge community of football fans, and a unique platform for fans to engage with their club in a new and innovative way.”
Chief Revenue Officer at AS Roma, Francesco Calvo was also quoted in the blog post, saying
“Thanks to Socios.com’s blockchain platform, we can guarantee new opportunities to our fan base around the world, giving them the possibility to interact in an innovative way with their favorite team.”
The Crypto-Sports Partnership
The sports industry has come out as an unexpected ally of the blockhain and crypto community. Many clubs and teams are partnering up with cryptocurrency and blockchain companies to expand their revenue options and provide new and unique experiences for their fans.
Other extremely popular football clubs that have also partnered with Socios for the issuance of fan tokens, which similarly grants some voting rights to the token holders, are the Italian football club Juventus and and French football club Paris Saint-Germain.
It appears that sports team also comprehending the immense potential that crypto and blockchain hold, and attempt to utilize their advantages to create a better ecosystem to directly engage with their fans.
