Turkish football giant, Galatasaray Spor Kulübü is planning to launch Ethereum-based fan tokens.

The initiative is in partnership with blockchain sports fan startup, Socios based on sports tokenisation platform Chiliz.

In a press release on Monday, Socios announced that within the partnership, The Lions, the only Turkish club to have won a major competition - 2018-2019 Süper Lig Champions – will release fan tokens on its platform.

In addition, the football team will be on the company’s blockchain-based, influence and rewards mobile app for football supporters, says a Coin Telegraph report.

The Socios press release stated: “The Official Fan Token of Galatasaray will allow fans to vote in club-delegated polls, helping to decide on topics that the club put up for fan vote. Poll topics include new official product designs, matchday activities and in-stadium experiences, as well as sponsorship campaigns and collaborations and social media content. The more tokens a fan holds, the greater the influence they can have, and the more fans interact with Galatasaray through the app, the more rewards they can earn, competing for club-specific once-in-a-lifetime experiences and enjoying exclusive rights.”

The firm also promises fans will also be able to access exclusive leaderboards, games and merchandise in the future.
The token will be sold through Socios.com via a Fan Token offering, getting underway in the first quarter of next year. Galatasaray Spor Kulübü board member Dorukhan Acar stated: “As Galatasaray, we are very pleased to join forces with Socios.com and start an exciting journey. This new partnership opens a world of new opportunities for us with respect to our fan engagement and global reach as well as being another milestone in our digital transformation strategy.”

Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO & Founder of Socios said: “We know that Turkey is a very digitally savvy country – a Statista report earlier this year indicated that the Turks are early adopters of digital innovation, including cryptocurrencies – and we also know that Turks are enthusiastic football fans. Our product combines the two greatest passions of the Turkish people and we’re delighted to partner with Galatasaray, a giant of the Turkish football scene, to offer Fan Tokens to their millions of fans. This partnership marks another great step forward in opening up cryptocurrencies and Chiliz to millions of fans around the world.”

Other major clubs have also joined the Socios platform, including Atlético de Madrid, West Ham United, AS Roma, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain.