UFC Partners With Chiliz to Give Token Holders VIP Experiences

Ethereum-based sports tokenization platform Chiliz has partnered with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to allow fans to use CHZ tokens for experiences.

According to a May 7 announcement from Chiliz (CHZ), the platform plans to make their blockchain-based app Socios available to UFC fans. Using Chiliz’s signature CHZ coin, fans can exchange tokens on the platform for tickets to UFC events, experiences, and related rewards.

Image courtesy of Chiliz

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Chiliz CEO Alex Dreyfus said the partnership wasn’t strictly about buying tickets, but giving fans a voice:

“The idea is that (before the pandemic) 99.9% of sports fans, like YOU, are not in the stadium and yet you are a fan of few teams. So we offer teams the ability to engage and monetise their global fan base by creating Fan Tokens and attaching rights, experiences, gamification around these Fan Tokens.”

The CEO reported that over 200,000 people had downloaded the Socios app to utilize the CHZ token, but he hopes to see that number rise in 2020:

“...we are preparing much bigger marketing campaigns in the next few months to achieve our first million users. Moreover, our [publicly stated] goal [of] "being the biggest consumer-facing blockchain-based platform" in 2020 (excluding wallets & exchanges).”

Socios Twitter followers were equally as enthusiastic, saying the partnership meant “hundreds of millions” of new fans.

Tokenizing sports worldwide

Chiliz is a sports tokenization platform that has already signed deals with major soccer clubs including FC Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético de Madrid, Galatasaray, AS Roma, CA Independiente, and esports giants OG to produce Fan Tokens. The sports venture also partnered with Lagardere Sports and Entertainment to get a handhold in the National Football League and Major League Baseball.