Fan Token Platform Socios Inks New Four-Year Deal With Argentine Football Association (AFA)

Socios.com has renewed its partnership with Argentine Football Association until 2026 to help drive Web 3 fan engagement.

The CEO of the Chiliz blockchain, Alexandre Dreyfus, made the announcement on Twitter. Socios will also help the Argentine Football Association develop its $ARG fan token and create a global engagement and rewards community centered on the token.
The AFA is the latest addition to Socios.com’s ever-growing catalog of world-renowned sporting talent, boasting Argentinian and Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi.

Good for AFA brand, says AFA president

The new $ARG token will be designed and built to run on the Chiliz blockchain. Fans holding tokens can vote in polls and engage in games and competitions. They will be rewarded for their loyalty with VIP experiences, merchandise, and free non-fungible tokens.
Dreyfus said that Chiliz was excited about all the opportunities ahead, including this year’s Qatar FIFA World Cup. The president of the AFA stressed the importance of the new partnership in generating digital income for the future of Argentinian football and strengthening the association’s brand presence.

The AFA ruffled feathers earlier this year when it signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Binance, which Chiliz claimed was in breach of a three-year contract between the football association and itself. Under the original agreement, Chiliz would develop the $ARG token, and the league’s name would be changed to Torneo Socios.com during the 2021 football season.

At the time, Chiliz claimed it was “outraged “by the AFA’s deal with Binance and proceeded to pursue legal action against the AFA to “protect” the rights of fans already owning $ARG tokens. On Jan. 31, 2022, an Argentine tribunal ruled that the AFA and Torneos y Comptencias must employ all measures to ensure the contracts around the $ARG fan token, the national team sponsorship, and naming rights are honored

Socios.com expands into major football leagues

Socios.com has been on a mission to conquer the football world, making inroads into flagship leagues in the U.S.A., Italy, Spain, France, England, and Turkey. Some of its early conquests were Turkish club Galatasaray Sports Club, French club Paris Saint-Germain, Italian clubs Juventus and AS Roma, English club West Ham United, and Spanish outfit Atletico Madrid. Earlier this year, its inked deals with 26 teams participating in the American Major League Soccer tournament. According to CoinMarketCap, at press time, the 24-hour trading volume on Chiliz was around $13.5 million, with fan tokens from Paris Saint-Germain and English club Manchester City Football Club having the highest 24-hour trading volumes of $1,332,537 and $967,786. Both clubs won the titles in their respective domestic leagues last season. Socios.com has also dipped its toes into the National Basketball Association and the National Football Leagues in the U.S.A. Fan tokens have drawn criticism that they can be open to market manipulation and that fan participation in voting should not be monetized.

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