AC Milan join clubs including Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, AS Roma, Atletico de Madrid, Galatasaray and Trabzonspor to have partnered with Socios.com, officially launching the $ACM Fan Token last Thursday. More major clubs are set to launch Fan Tokens in the near future, too, with pre-sale Locker Tokens for Manchester Blue and The Galacticos selling out.

Notable examples of fan engagement include fans choosing the team for friendly matches and picking the kit for the following season. Fan Token holders have also taken part in live pre-match press conferences, voted on the goal celebration song to be played every time the team scores and much more.

At the same time, these digital assets are opening a new revenue stream for the sports industry, enabling organisations to make up for the shortfalls caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the ban on betting sponsorship recently issued by the Spanish and Italian governments.

Losses from gambling sponsors cost Serie A teams around €100million in combined revenue last year, and the losses for La Liga clubs will be very similar. Meanwhile, UK government ministers have recently indicated that a ban on football shirt sponsorship is incoming.

During one of the most challenging years the sports world has ever faced, blockchain start-up Socios.com generated $30million in 2020 through the sale of Fan Tokens, helping to fill the huge revenue chasm caused by Covid-19 for their platform partners. The company is aiming to vastly increase that figure in 2021.