European Soccer Clubs Pocket $200M from Fan Tokens

A handful of European soccer clubs have generated more than $200 million in revenue using Socios, an online marketplace for cryptocurrency fan tokens, according to the Telegraph.

At least 23 sporting organizations issue virtual fan tokens through the Socios.com app, which has close to one million registered users. 

Clubs earn revenue in the form of direct payments from Socios.

• Fan tokens for Juventus opened at $13.39 each on Monday, with a market cap of $17.6 million. 
• FC Barcelona’s fan token has a market cap of $72.3 million and opened at $21.65 on Monday. 
• PSG’s fan token opened at $33.36 on Monday, with a market cap of $97 million. 

Earlier this month, Lionel Messi signed a two-year, $41 million deal with PSG, and a portion of his contract is being paid in fan tokens. 

PSG did not disclose how many tokens Messi received but said the amount was “significant,” per Reuters. 

Soccer isn’t the only sport venturing into fan tokens. 

UFC announced a plan in May to issue a blockchain-based token in coordination with Socios and Chiliz, the world’s first tokenized sports exchange.