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Three major franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings, and Kolkata Knight Riders, have partnered with Socios, a leading sports tech fan engagement and monetization platform.
The team at Socios tweeted the announcement earlier today:
“The @IPL’s biggest teams are coming to Socios.com. We are delighted to announce that @RCBTweets, @KKRiders & @PunjabKingsIPL have become the first 3 Cricket teams to join the Socios family.”
The IPL is contested by eight teams based out of eight Indian cities and has a brand value of over $6.5 billion. The league attracts the highest attendance levels in world cricket.
A New Way To Engage Fans
India is currently undergoing a severe covid crisis due to which the T20 season was suspended last week to ensure the well-being of stakeholders. As the situation continues to worsen, the games seem to be suspended indefinitely.
The three teams and Socios are taking the opportunity to engage fans using blockchain technology and digital initiatives. Cricket is the second most popular sport globally, and the IPL is one of the top leagues in the world.
Satish Menon, CEO of Punjab Kings, stated,
“We are happy that Socios.com has recognized this and partnered with us. The partnership with Socios.com is a significant step towards a new genre of fan engagement that will emerge from this. We hope that the association benefits both the franchise and Socios.com and helps in the overall growth of the franchise.”
IPL Cancellation Forces Teams To Reinvent Fan Engagement
Venky Mysore, CEO & MD of Kolkata Knight Riders, claimed that the suspension of IPL was unfortunate but necessary as the safety of players was a priority. This encouraged them to look at new ways of enhancing and optimizing fan engagement, and Socios seemed like the perfect fit.
He further adds,
“Socios.com has already proven what a powerful tool it can be for fan engagement with some of the biggest sporting organisations in the world. Kolkata Knight Riders is honoured to be among the first IPL teams to forge a partnership with them and we’re excited to begin exploring all the possibilities this new partnership offers.”
Rajesh V Menon, Vice President & Head of Royal Challengers Bangalore, spoke about the collaboration,
“RCB keeps the fan centre stage in everything we do. With the tournament paused for now and discontinued on-field entertainment, RCB has gladly partnered with Socios.com to bring some off-field engagement for our fans. With this partnership, we continue to look at new ways of enhancing and optimizing how we engage with our fans.”
Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Chiliz and Socios is excited to venture into the vibrant and massive IPL market. He states,
“The suspension of the league was a vital step in the fight against COVID-19 in India, but Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders all see this period of on-field inactivity as an opportunity to begin exploring the range of possibilities partnering with Socios.com offers.”
About Socios
Socios applies blockchain technology for a direct-to-consumer (D2C) platform. This means that it provides renowned sporting organizations new methods and tools to engage with their fans and monetize their fanbases.
One of the solutions is the Fan Token: these are digital assets minted on the Chiliz blockchain. It gives owners of the tokens voting rights in polls, VIP rewards, exclusive club and sponsor promotions, AR-enabled features, chat forums, games, and competitions.
With the addition of IPL, the total number of partners in the Socios network exceeds 30. Some of the partners include European soccer giants FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, AC Milan, Manchester City, and the UFC.
About Chiliz
Chiliz ($CHZ), the creator of Chiliz blockchain and Socios, is a crypto unicorn having a market capitalization of $3 billion. The company is headquartered in Malta with offices in France, Turkey, Spain, South Korea, Brazil, UK, and Sweden.
The company plans to grow its existing presence in Europe, with plans for global expansion with new partnerships in the US, UK, Asia, and South America. Chiliz wants to open new US, European, and South American headquarters in New York, Madrid, and Sao Paulo this year. It generated revenues of $30M in 2020 and is targeting $200M in 2021.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.