Scrolling through Twitter this week, I came across a question from Scott Belsky, Chief Product Officer at Adobe, who asked, “
Will every business ultimately be owned by a set of token holders who, as owners have a set of entitlements and a degree of liquidity at all times?”
This was followed by a proclamation from Belsky that, “From local ice cream shops to the next great social network of marketplace, decentralization has fascinating implications.”
As such, I thought it would be interesting to consider it from the perspective of sport.
Of course, Socios, who have recently announced partnerships with
Inter Milan and Valencia, immediately come to mind. Furthermore, their recent Fan Token Offer with Federação Portuguesa de Futebol has been reported as a huge success. All 1,000,000 $POR Fan Tokens made available sold out in minutes, making $POR officially the most demanded Fan Token within the marketplace with a record-breaking number of holders.
As a result, Group Chief Executive Officer at ELEVEN SPORTS, Luis Vicente, is “following with interest” the advent of Crypto and Blockchain as a new engine of growth for the sports industry. He also goes on to explain
via a LinkedIn post that these tokens provide a, “unique opportunity to engage fans as a powerful fan marketing tool.”
He continues, “Expect a quick evolution of fan tokens as a real opportunity vehicle and ecosystem for fans to have real equity in clubs and sports organisations and expect as well betting, gaming and crypto to become owners of leagues, sports and rights holders in the next years as businesses that have the investment capability to rescue and growth but above all business that are prepared and equipped to interact, monetise and engage with the consumers/fans from scratch. Interesting years ahead...”
When you consider discussions around team ownership, from rising franchise values in the NFL pricing out even some of the wealthiest individuals, to fan representation in Europe post-Super League, the concept becomes even more interesting still.
What do you think? Let me know by replying to this email.
