Socios Makes a Metaverse Investment to Barcelona!
Sports clubs are trying to diversify their revenue streams by entering the Metaverse. They are also attracting the attention of VC firms in the process. Socios, a company that designs fan engagement tools for sports clubs, announced that it has invested $100 million in Barca Studios' Metaverse, NFT and Web3 division. With the investment, Socios has acquired a 24.5 percent stake in the company, as announced by the club. It will also allow the club to 'accelerate its audiovisual, blockchain, NFT and Web3 strategy'. This influx of capital will allow the company to focus on developing new products incorporating these new technologies to create new sources of long-term revenue.
According to Socios, Barca Studios Metaverse will now have access to Chilliz Chain, a new Blockchain that allows developers to create NFT, fan tokens, defi products and play to earn games. Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Socios, also commented.
"Barca Studios can now start implementing the Club's Web3 content strategy. It can also leverage our technology to help deliver new long-term revenue streams that will benefit the club in future seasons."
Immediately after this announcement, the price of BAR, the official token of FC Barcelona, increased. BAR went from $5 to $7.20, an increase of close to 50 percent. The fan token allows holders to have a say in certain decisions through the voting application in Socios.
Barcelona's Digital Growth!
The football club has been interested in new technologies such as the Metaverse and NFTs since earlier this year, when it announced the launch of a dedicated unit to develop products in the region. FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta stated that the digital focus is a very important part of its growth strategy. At the same time, Laporta said that they want to 'create new opportunities for growth'. He also said that 'our goal is to win championships. We want to make our fans happy. At the same time we have to take advantage of opportunities in the sports industry. It is a matter of survival'.
The club, which launched a special NFT collection in the past days, signaled that it will take new initiatives. The first of 10 NFT collections was sold for 693,000 dollars. The club also announced that it will continue the series and make new initiatives to increase revenues.
Source: nfxhaber.com