Piece on Socios, the controversial ‘fan token’ app whose rapid growth has recently seen it add Arsenal and Inter Milan to a stable that includes Barcelona, Man City, PSG, Juve and teams from F1, NBA and IPL
cityam.com/socios-the-blo…
cityam.com/socios-the-blo…
Socios appeals to clubs because it offers a new revenue stream and a way of leveraging their global following: “My job is to monetise the 99% of fans who aren’t in the stadium,” says CEO Alexandre Dreyfus.
CEO Dreyfus: “We’re not targeting the guy who has a tattoo and a season ticket. Our clients are the guys who will most likely never go to the stadium and yet dream about the team but were born in Korea, Japan, Turkey or Brazil. Not acknowledging them is discrimination.”
Some fans groups, notably @WeAreTheFSA, have criticised Socios for trying to charge for engagement between club and supporters that they say should be free. West Ham fans even forced club and Socios to abandon their partnership.
Socios CEO Dreyfus rejects that criticism: “The message ‘we have to pay to have a say’ is not true. 1. People already engaging in a traditional way get a token for free. 2. Some people in UK are complaining because for the first time they have a say and it’s thanks to us.”
Socios had to tread a fine line with what it offers: influence over decisions (eg what song is played after a goal) that is meaningful enough to monetise but that is essentially of little consequence to hardcore fans. Otherwise clubs face even greater blowback.
Socios CEO Dreyfus: “We’re not here to take money from the fans. What we do is not bad; we are not bad actors. We aren’t worse than Facebook or TikTok. It’s just the monetisation is different.” cityam.com/socios-the-blo…
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