Desk Report
Publish: 18 Nov 2021, 10:57 am
Leo Messi || Photo: Collected
When Paris Saint-Germain signed Lionel Messi, the salary
package included something previously unheard of for a player -- a one-off
payment, understood to be worth around one million euros ($1.15m), made in PSG
'fan tokens'.
It was the result of a partnership signed by the French
giants in 2018 with Socios.com which sees fans use a cryptocurrency called
'chiliz' to buy tokens allowing them to vote on issues related to the club, reports AFP.
These issues have tended to be rather mundane, for example
Juventus asking what music they should play in their stadium, but the concept
has caught on.
The company has grown quickly since signing its first
partnerships with PSG and Juventus to being involved with 56 football clubs and
around 100 sports teams worldwide, says CEO Alexandre Dreyfus.
Messi has brought more publicity, and Dreyfus believes the
Argentinian will "set a trend".
"This is more a top-up that is never going to replace
any compensation. It is more like a bonus, but it is a bonus that at some point
players will start to ask for," Dreyfus tells AFP from his office in
Malta.
"We hope that in two years, during the 'mercato'
(transfer window), a player will say: 'Yes I am going to that team but they had
better give me a million dollars of fan tokens'."
Dreyfus admits the pandemic and resulting economic crisis
has benefited his company, allowing them to multiply their partnerships.
"The fact is that clubs suddenly lost 50 or 70 or 80
percent of their revenue, and they realised: 'Hey, we have fans all over the
world, what can we sell them?'"
They now have shirt sponsorship deals with Inter Milan and
Valencia, promoting their fan tokens.
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Topic : Paris Saint-Germain Lionel Messi
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