A football team in Cyprus Apollon FC won against its rivals after it allowed fans to use blockchain technology and fan tokens to vote on its match lineup and formation, taking fan engagement to a new level.
Apollon FC, using fan token platform Socios.com, won in a friendly match against rivals Aris Limassol, Socios said in a post. Apollon won six goals to zero.
With Socios, fans of Apollon who bought its fan token APL had the opportunity to vote in a series of polls. These determined the team’s formation on the pitch and to select its attacking players. The fans chose a 4-2-3-1 formation, meaning the fans wanted four players on defense, two defending midfielders, three attacking midfielders, and one striker. Three of the four players voted on by fans scored goals during the match.
Socios.com CEO Alexandre Dreyfus called the day historic and expressed his pride in the level of interaction from both fans and officials at Apollon FC:
“Today Socios.com & Apollon FC made history. The friendly match against Aris Limassol was the first match ever to be powered by blockchain, with fans picking the formation and the players. I’m so proud to have delivered this level of fan engagement for our partners Apollon FC, and for the fans to have voted for the winning formation.”
According to Socios, APL rose 13% during the match.
And it seems Apollon will continue to let fans dictate certain aspects of the team. Apollon head coach Soforonis Avgousti said:
“As a club, we want to have a connection with our fans and represent them in the best way possible…we will give our fans the chance to help me and the rest of the team with the selection and hopefully, they will appreciate the fact that we value their opinion.”
Socios has partnerships with many football clubs around the world, including massively popular ones such as Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus. The Barcelona fan token BAR even sold out in less than two hours. Socios also released the Socios.com Visa debit card to allow users to earn fan token-powered rewards and other benefits from their chosen football club.