top of page
Tokenising Startups logo

Independent UK news and guides on tokenised equity, for founders raising capital, investors and the firms that support them. Published by Tokenisation Group Limited, London. Information only, not financial advice.

Securitize and Socios.com Partner to Bring Regulated Tokenised Equity to Professional Sports Team Ownership

Writer: Shawn Jhanji
Shawn Jhanji
Sep 4
3 min read

Updated: Oct 7

Football fan holding a phone in a stadium lined with club equity token panels and Securitize and Socios.com signs

Which clubs will be next?


Securitize and Socios.com, the fan engagement platform owned by Chiliz Group, announced a partnership on 2 September to develop regulated tokenised equity offerings representing minority stakes in professional sports teams, under the new Socios Equity Token category that Chiliz unveiled in late August. For UK platform builders and advisers watching where tokenised equity infrastructure might go next, this is a live example of the model moving well beyond startup cap tables into an entirely different asset class, built on the same regulatory rails.


Under the arrangement, Socios.com will lead relationships with sports clubs and fans, while Securitize will run the regulated side: securities issuance, investor onboarding, ownership records and transfer of title, using the infrastructure it has already built for issuers in the United States and Europe. The initiative is expected to be the first project launched through Securitize's authorised European Trading and Settlement System under the EU DLT Pilot Regime, giving it a live regulatory perimeter rather than an offshore workaround.


Chiliz says its own research, carried out with OnePoll, found seventy two per cent of fans want some form of stake in the clubs they support, and would pay an average of nine hundred and thirteen pounds for a digital asset that conferred club equity. The commercial logic follows a pattern familiar to readers of this publication: a large, engaged, currently locked out pool of potential investors, sitting behind a distribution and compliance bottleneck that tokenisation is designed to solve.


No tokens are available for purchase yet. Chiliz and Securitize describe the offering as under development, subject to securities laws, league requirements, club approval and regulatory authorisation in each relevant market, and the companies have not named a launch club or a target date.


What this signals for the wider tokenised equity market is arguably more interesting than the sports angle itself. Securitize is the same regulated infrastructure provider that underpins BlackRock's tokenised money market fund and a growing list of institutional issuances. Its willingness to extend that stack to sports club equity, a sector defined by passionate, non institutional retail interest, suggests the compliance tooling built for wholesale finance is now mature enough to be repointed at consumer facing ownership products. That is directly relevant to the founder access debate this publication follows closely: if regulated equity tokenisation can be adapted for a football club's fanbase, the infrastructure case for adapting it to a growing company's investor base looks stronger, not weaker.


Key Takeaways

  • Securitize and Socios.com will jointly develop regulated tokenised minority equity stakes in professional sports teams under the Socios Equity Token brand.

  • Socios.com handles club and fan relationships, Securitize handles regulated issuance, onboarding and ownership records.

  • The project is expected to launch through Securitize's authorised EU DLT Pilot Regime infrastructure.

  • Chiliz research found seventy two per cent of fans want equity style access to their club, willing to pay an average of nine hundred and thirteen pounds.

  • No tokens are yet available; the offering remains subject to securities law, league and club approval in each market.


Sources:

Frequently asked questions


What are Socios Equity Tokens?

Socios Equity Token is a category Chiliz unveiled in late August for regulated tokenised equity offerings representing minority stakes in professional sports teams. Securitize and Socios.com announced a partnership on 2 September to develop these offerings.

What roles do Securitize and Socios.com play in the sports equity partnership?

Socios.com will lead relationships with sports clubs and fans. Securitize will run the regulated side, covering securities issuance, investor onboarding, ownership records and transfer of title.

Can fans buy tokenised sports club equity from Securitize and Socios.com yet?

No tokens are available for purchase yet. The offering is under development and subject to securities laws, league requirements, club approval and regulatory authorisation in each relevant market, and no launch club or target date has been named.

Which regulatory framework will the Socios Equity Token project use?

The initiative is expected to be the first project launched through Securitize's authorised European Trading and Settlement System under the EU DLT Pilot Regime.

How many sports fans want a stake in their club, according to Chiliz?

Chiliz says its research with OnePoll found 72 per cent of fans want some form of stake in the clubs they support. They would pay an average of 913 pounds for a digital asset that conferred club equity.


Comments

bottom of page