Socios.com has entered the U.S. sports market by launching its first fan token partnerships with five major college sports programs: Louisiana State University (LSU), the University of Maryland, Michigan State University, Penn State and Texas A&M University.
The sports tokenization platform has entered the U.S. sports ecosystem through agreements signed by Fan Token Management (FTM) US, a vertical of The Chiliz Group, and Playfly Sports. The partnerships mark the first fan token initiatives of their kind in the United States and what the company describes as the first implementation of fan tokens in college sports.
Following the initial partnerships, Socios.com plans to expand the program to 30 college athletic departments over the next 12 months. The company says the expansion will be key to ensuring that fan tokens in college sports benefit from the same network effects that make NCAA sports so attractive.
Socios.com has a global network of more than 70 sports organizations
The five U.S. universities join a global network of more than 70 international sports organizations, including Arsenal, AS Roma, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Flamengo and the national teams of Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Belgium.
A “significant” share of the revenue generated from fan token sales is expected to go directly toward supporting student-athletes through NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) programs within the universities’ athletic departments.
Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO and founder of Chiliz and Socios.com, said the partnerships represented “the first Fan Tokens in U.S. college sports” and “not only a new frontier, but also a new version of this already established asset class.”
Craig Sloan, CEO of Playfly Sports, added that the company’s university partners are constantly looking for innovative ways to connect with fans and create new commercial opportunities that positively impact the fan experience.