Today SBI Digital Asset Holdings (SBI DAH) announced a Japanese joint venture with Chiliz to bring its football club fan tokens to Japan. The tokens are known under the Socios fan engagement brand and include top soccer clubs such as Arsenal, AC Milan, Manchester City, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. Additionally, SBI DAH plans to operate a node on the Chiliz Chain. To date more than 2 million users have engaged with the Socios fan tokens.
While companies such as Sorare and Dapper Labs are focused on sports NFTs, fan tokens are not unique. They’re fungible. Some have compared them to tracking stocks. Hence, while Socios has inked fan engagement deals in the United States including with Major League Soccer and 13 NFL teams, we’re not aware of the issuance of any fan tokens stateside. Apart from the trading aspect, the tokens enable fan engagement in the form of voting, competitions, VIP experiences, merchandise and exclusive offers.
On the topic of stockholders, in Japan private investors typically engage more with companies than in the West. That includes receiving discount coupons, gift cards, points and memberships. Hence, while fan tokens don’t represent any ownership interest in the clubs, they offer similar engagement opportunities. Shortly after Chiliz launched, a Japanese version emerged, FiNANCiE. It has various relationships with Japanese sports teams, including J-League soccer clubs. However, Chiliz provides the international exposure.
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