Soccer clubs are now resorting to blockchain and crypto for fan engagement, tokenization and even new signings, with the potential for many more use cases.

1. ANIRUDH TIWARI JAN 24, 2021
Hat-trick hero: Empty stadiums get blockchain and soccer to play together
Soccer clubs are now resorting to blockchain and crypto for fan engagement, tokenization and even new
signings, with the potential for many more use cases.
13622 37 8:22
In a rst for professional soccer, Spanish team DUX Internacional de Madrid has used crypto to buy a new
player. Ex-Real Madrid player David Barral is a new acquisition for the club facilitated by the
cryptocurrency trading company Criptan.
Although technically this is not the rst recorded Bitcoin (BTC) transfer, amateur Turkish club
Harunustaspor bought 22-year-old player Omer Faruk Kiroglu back in 2018 for 0.0524 Bitcoin and 2,500
Turkish Lira. This move was performed to gain attention for the club in international media for doing
“something new” but not necessarily sparking blockchain adoption in soccer.
DUX’s acquisition is indicative of the adoption of blockchain technology and crypto tokens within the
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2. soccer community and its fans. This development came soon after European soccer giant AC Milan joined
the blockchain bandwagon by announcing on Jan. 18 the impending launch of their native fan token, ACM,
on the Chiliz blockchain, a fan engagement platform.
The CHZ blockchain includes 20 other sporting organizations and has reportedly been installed 450,000
times, with token sales exceeding 14 million in number, with the fan token of reigning Italian Serie A
champions Juventus ($JUV) being one of the rst to be listed on the platform. Alejandro Laplana, CEO and
Founder of Shokworks — a company that develops digital platforms for various brands and sports teams
— discussed AC Milan’s move with Cointelegraph:
AC Milan’s entry into the blockchain domain is an interesting case when compared to other soccer clubs
that have joined previously, as it is a club with a huge fanbase. The club’s achievements have been scarce
over the last decade, and this move is bound to streamline fan engagement and enable it to acquire new
fans, especially given its current push to win the Serie A league title.
In addition to AC Milan, other soccer clubs, such as Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Manchester
City are becoming participants in the blockchain and crypto community. In fact, Spanish giant FC Barcelona
generated $1.3 million in less than two hours after launching its token, BAR, selling 600,000 Barcelona
crypto-based tokens for $2.20 each back in February 2020. The initial sale was oversubscribed by more
than ve times, and the price of the BAR rose by 200% in the rst ve minutes of trading on Chiliz. It
currently holds a market capitalization of over $20 million.
Laplana further stated how FC Barcelona’s token is unique when compared to the token o erings from
other soccer clubs: “It helped inform — via fan interaction — the design of the mural for the rst team
locker room. [...] The token is designed to reward holders of the tokens (fans) for increased engagement
with more tokens.”
Fan engagement during COVID-19
The coronavirus global pandemic brought sporting events to a standstill, canceling most of them and
postponing the 2020 UEFA Football Championship and the Tokyo Olympics 2020 being postponed to 2021
for the rst time in history. The soccer industry was hit with empty stadiums due to COVID-19 restrictions
and with the general lack of engagement and monetization from the global fan base. Since fans are not in
“This is great because it can engage their 250 million (+) fans all across the globe and include them
in exercises like voting and direct feedback in club policy. Moreover, this can further engage them
with gami ed loyalty and rewards programs via secure smart contracts that reward engagement
with additional tokens. It can also help build liquidity by listing their tokens in exchanges.”

3. the stadiums, tokens provide them with voting rights in club-speci c polls or give them access to VIP
experiences or can be redeemed against exclusive club merchandise.
Another way to engage fans is through trading cards and fantasy soccer games based on a blockchain. For
example, Sorare is a blockchain-based fantasy soccer game that leverages classic soccer trading cards and
fantasy league games. It runs on the Ethereum blockchain and uses nonfungible tokens. An NFT is a
special crypto token that represents something unique, and thus, it is not mutually interchangeable. FC
Barcelona star center-back Gerard Pique is a seed investor for Sorare.
Use cases go beyond fan engagement
Amid the ongoing global pandemic, fan engagement is the most important aspect that the introduction of
blockchain within soccer can bring about. However, there are several other use cases that can become
vital.
Laplana explained that soccer clubs can use the technology to build up liquidity for speci c programs such
as stadium renovations, adding: “Another use case is clear and transparent elections in a sport that has
unfortunately been tarnished by decades of rampant corruption and disputed election results at every
level of the sport.”

4. The ongoing global pandemic has been devastating for sporting organizations, including soccer, as
stadiums are currently going empty, a ecting the revenue and fanbases of teams. Various major
international clubs are now resorting to crypto and blockchain to nd ways to bridge this gap.
These use cases could be employed for clubs that have a considerable fanbase and are currently facing
challenges on and o the eld. Stefan Ateljevic, founder of BitcoinPlay — a Bitcoin gami cation platform —
told Cointelegraph how cryptocurrencies could begin to play a larger role in the economics of the soccer
world: