LONDON, JULY 18TH: Socios.com, a blockchain provider for the sports industry, is today announcing new partnerships with three leading Premiership Rugby Union clubs. This marks its latest expansion into a new sport as it continues building its global ecosystem of fans from teams and organisations from some of the biggest sports in the world.
The new Fan Tokens will be accessible via Socios.com’s fan engagement and rewards platform, providing Fan Token holders around the world with an array of rewards, new opportunities for engagement through polls, enhanced access to their club and its players, and a community where they can build networks with other fans.
The Socios.com platform is designed to allow clubs to reward fans for engaging and supporting their team. The rewards and experiences set to be provided by the new rugby union Fan Tokens include:
- Saracens Fan Token holders will be able to vote on the name of the new West Stand at StoneX Stadium. They will also be able to win tours around the training ground.
- Leicester Fan Token holders will be able to spend a day with the Premiership Trophy, be it to take to the office on the daily commute, to your sports club or even the local!
- Harlequins Fan Token holders will be able to enjoy dressing room tours and enjoy a match on the team bench. They can also attend a training session with the squad, conducted by First Team Coaches.
Other rewards range from meet-and-greets with players to training ground tours across the season, all aimed at bringing Fan Token holders closer to their club. Socios.com and clubs will continually liaise with fans and Fan Token holders as they provide clubs with a new way to reward and engage their fans.
There are currently 1.5 million fans from over 160 countries using Socios.com to connect with and be rewarded by their favourite clubs. Other sports teams and organisations with Fan Tokens include Manchester City, AC Milan, Juventus, FC Barcelona, Aston Martin and the Davis Cup. Socios.com has over 150 partners in 25 countries across 10 sports: American Football; Basketball; Cricket; Football; Gaming; Ice Hockey; MMA; Motor Sports; Rugby; and Tennis.
As part of the announcement, Season Ticket Members from each rugby club will be given a free Fan Token to start to enjoy the benefits of the token-gated community. Fan Tokens will be made available through a fixed initial Fan Token Offering (FTO) price of £2 at the end of August, at which point clubs will launch a tiered community of benefits and rewards.
Steve Morton, Chief Commercial Officer of Harlequins, said: “We’re always looking for ways to offer more to our supporters and these new Fan Tokens will play an important role in engaging a growing global supporter base. We’re committed to working closely with Socios.com to bring supporters, no matter where in the world they live, closer to the game via rewards and experiences, in conjunction with our existing Member loyalty programme, as well as speaking to our supporters directly to continue building an offer that brings them closer to the Club.”
Mark Davies, Head of Business Development at Leicester Tigers, added: “Technology is rapidly changing how sports fans want to interact with their clubs. The key is working with fans to ensure it’s used in a way which benefits them, and that’s why we’re hugely excited about Fan Tokens. We believe that by doing so we are able to offer supporters meaningful connections on a regular basis in a world that is becoming more and more prominent in today’s society.”
Lucy Wray, CEO of Saracens, added: “We pride ourselves on the loyalty of our fans. They are the backbone of the Sarries family. We’re excited about working with Socios.com, who work with some of the biggest global sports brands, to offer them something new and different to add to their experience, and more importantly giving them a further way of getting closer to the club.”
Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Chiliz and Socios.com, added: “Launching in a new sport is always a big moment for Socios.com and the growth of the platform. The wider rugby community comprises some of the most passionate sports fans around. It has long been an ambition to launch in this area and between Leicester, Harlequins and Saracens, we are partnering with three of the best-known and best-supported rugby union sides. We are looking forward to working with these teams to offer a differentiating way of engaging with their fans.
“More broadly, we’re excited to add three more leading clubs to our platform’s multi-sports ecosystem, as we continue building an offer for fans of clubs and organisations in the world’s biggest sports. We have further updates developments ahead for Socios.com as we look to expand and enhance our tokenised system of fan engagement, access, community and rewards.”
