A few months ago, the club generated approximately R$9 million from selling the 850,000 digital coins on the Socio.com platform. Each fan token was sold for $2 meaning the campaign raised a whopping $1.7M.
The big sales are quite a milestone for Atletico-MG as their revenue from the market was equal to that of Man City and even surpassed that of Barcelona. The Brazilian club pocked half of the revenue while the rest was wired into the accounts of Belo Horizonte Club.
The 850,000 fan tokens were sold in two batches of 600,000 and 250,000. The team from Minas Gerais recorded the fourth fastest sale on Socio.com, with the first lot of 600,000 tokens depleted in just 8 minutes!
Selling of the fan tokens is expected to significantly boost the relationship between Galo (as the club is famously nicknamed) and their fans. Incredibly, the fans will now use these tokens to vote on issues, such as the type of armband used in a match.
The Brazilian Football Confederation decided to walk in the footsteps of the top Brazilian club. In just 19 minutes, the confederation sold more than 30 million Brazilian fan tokens. The digital currency was sold to 13,568 people, raising an income of around R$ 90 million. It is expected that more clubs and organisations will soon follow the path of Atletico-MG and the Brazilian Football Confederation.
The partnership between Galo and Socio.com
The partnership between Atletico-MG and Socios was formalised in June 2021. This means fans can use the platform to buy tokens and engage with the team whenever they like. Besides boosting the team’s revenues, this is expected to boost fan loyalty for one of the biggest sides in the Brazilian Serie A.
PSG’s fan tokens appreciate with Messi’s arrival
Paris Saint Germain partially used digital currency when signing Lionel Messi in 2021. So it is no surprise that PSG’s digital currency increased its value by more than half after signing the six-time Ballon d’Or winner. But, of course, nothing less is expected when a team signs the best player in the planet.
The Ligue 1 giants took maximum advantage of the transfer window to bring quality players to their squad. Alongside Messi, PSG signed three other quality players for free.
First, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma joined on a five-year contract from AC Milan. Second, the long-time and controversial Real Madrid defender, Sergio Ramos left La Liga for PSG. Last but not least, Georginio Wijnaldum came in as a star midfielder from Liverpool. The signings of the four great athletes led to PSG appreciating by more $1.2 billion from the fan tokens alone.
Use of fan tokens around the world
Fan tokens is a market that is growing rapidly in Brazil and beyond. Like PSG, other established European clubs have equally embraced the concept of digital currency. Big teams such as Juventus, Milan, Man City, Arsenal and more recently Corinthians, have already enlisted on the socio.com platform. Even national teams such as the Argentine team now use digital currency.
The market is not just a reserve for football. Other sports are also free to embrace fan tokens. Teams in basketball, cricket, Formula 1 and boxing are not left behind in this era of cryptocurrency. The idea of fan tokens is expected to grow even more in the world of sports going forward.
