With the invention of social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, you can now engage and connect with famous people continuously. The cryptocurrency industry has created something even better. Instead of passively enjoying content, you can now actively participate in your favorite team's decisions and more by using fan tokens. Popular teams in sports such as Formula One and football have issued their fan tokens. Let's look at what is a fan token and how they work.
What Exactly is a Fan Token?
Fan tokens are crypto assets issued by clubs, organizations, or teams to their supporters. Ownership of these tokens grants access to the inner circle of fans. Holders gain access to a variety of exclusive voting opportunities in various polls that influence team decisions. Fan tokens first appeared during the COVID-19 pandemic, when match attendance was prohibited, forcing sports teams to seek new revenue streams - and they were a success. FC Barcelona partnered with blockchain fan and rewards platform Socios.com in June 2020 to launch fan tokens, which sold out in 2 hours and generated $1.3 million in revenue.
These polls are about match location decisions, tour bus designs, promotions, rewards, and merchandise designs. Having more tokens gives you more voting power, allowing fans to influence their favorite team.
Not only that, but you can use these tokens to purchase exclusive sports merchandise, NFTs, and team content. You can also get an even more VIP experience by climbing the tiers of fans on the Socios.com platform.
How Do Fan Tokens Work?
The fundamentals of fan tokens are similar to those of other cryptocurrencies in that they are mostly BSC-based tokens with a limited supply that can be purchased and sold on crypto exchanges such as MultiBank io. However, the most important benefits for diehard fans are non-monetary. This is due to the fact that fan tokens can be used to purchase collectibles, merchandise, and exclusive interactions with athletes such as meet-and-greets and autograph sessions. Tokens also serve as a membership key, allowing users to enter exclusive competitions for unique rewards, club recognition, and other benefits.
Notably, holders of fan tokens have exclusive voting rights on club decisions. Tokens are analogous to stock in a corporation in this regard. Fan tokens allow holders to vote on club matters in the same way that governance tokens allow DAO holders to vote on proposals to change tech-related features.
The more tokens a user has, the more influence that user has over such polls. Some teams limit voting eligibility and other benefits until a user has a certain number of tokens.
What Are the Advantages of Fan Tokens?
Apart from governance, these tokens offer token holders club-specific benefits such as:
- Voting in club polls, such as selecting welcome songs, messages, or jersey colors
- Exclusive access to club player meet-and-greet events.
- Discounts on club merchandise and player autograph signings.
- Direct access to training sessions on the field.
- Free admission to the stadium.
- The ability to use the token to pay for match tickets and/or receive discounts on match tickets.
- Potential access to NFTs that the club may make available to fan token holders.
Examples of Fan Tokens
- CITY (Manchester City Fan Token). Manchester City is one of England's most famous football clubs and CITY is the name of its fan token.
- BAR (FC Barcelona Fan Token). FC Barcelona is a professional Spanish football club based in Barcelona, Spain. The BAR token, like all other fan tokens, entitles you to the benefits of being an official fan.
- PSG (Paris Saint-German Fan Token). Paris Saint-German is a professional football club based in Paris, France, that has won numerous awards and has a large fan base. The club's fan token is known as the PSG token.
- JUV (Juventus Fan Token). Juventus is an Italian professional football club based in Turin that has won numerous national and international awards. JUV is a token.
