New England Patriots Sign With Ethereum Fan Token Platform Socios

Socios, the biggest player in the multi-billion-dollar crypto fan token market, has just aligned with one of the NFL’s biggest teams.

Today, Socios announced a marketing deal with Kraft Sports + Entertainment, owners of the National Football League’s New England Patriots and Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution, to bring both clubs onto its platform. It’s the first team from either American sports league to sign with Socios.

However, Socios did not announce a fan token for either the Patriots or Revolution. Essentially, the companies have entered into a marketing and fan engagement arrangement that will take the form of user votes with prizes in the Socios.com app, as well as Patriots website activations, in-stadium signage, and official sponsorship of the team’s practice field house. Similarly, Socios will sponsor the Revolution’s training center.

A company representative categorized the deal as a marketing alliance that establishes the relationship with the teams and lays the groundwork for potential future endeavors—but would not specifically comment on fan token plans. Specific terms for the deal were not revealed, although Socios confirmed to Decrypt that it is a multi-year deal.

Officially licensed crypto fan tokens are big business, with an estimated $2.5 billion in trading volume over the last 30 days, per data from CryptoSlam. Socios accounts for the majority of that volume with soccer clubs like F.C. Barcelona and Juventus onboard, and it's now eyeing an expanded presence in the United States.

Socios has signed numerous other U.S. sports teams in recent months, including 24 total NBA clubs—such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls—and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. Similarly, those sponsorships do not currently include a fan token element.

However, outside of the United States, Socios has launched numerous crypto fan tokens via its Ethereum-based Chiliz token platform, which uses a custom sidechain to mint fan tokens. The Socios website lists 43 currently live tokens, including for F1 racing teams and various esports clubs, with eight more announced tokens on the horizon. Even the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has a fan token.

Among leading fan tokens tracked by CryptoSlam, the Paris Saint-Germain F.C. token is the most valuable and most active, with a current price nearing $21 per token and a market cap close to $65 million. It has 24-hour trading volume of nearly $23 million, as of this writing.

Along with the speculative element of rising (or falling) valuation, Socios fan tokens provide rewards and interaction opportunities to holders, such as fan votes, prizes, event tickets, and other real-world opportunities. The firm now has deals in place with more than 100 sports teams around the world.