Technology in sport: With new revenue possibilities, Galo leads digital transformation in Brazilian football

Terms like fan token, NFT and cryptocurrencies were little known by football lovers not long ago. Now, they have been one of the main types of investment by clubs in Brazil and around the world, and are already a hit with fans.

It all started in European football, when Manchester City, from England, Borussia Dortmund, from Germany, and Milan, from Italy, innovated by investing in the digital world by selling fan tokens – a type of cryptocurrency, like the famous Bitcoin . Since then, important Brazilian clubs, such as the pioneering Atlético-MG, have joined the “revolution” – in addition to a new way of engaging fans, they have also found new revenue possibilities in the digital world.

Galo is one of the hottest teams of the current season in Brazilian football. The club, which already won the Campeonato Mineiro this year, was a semifinalist in the Libertadores, is the undisputed leader of the Brazilian Championship (with more than 90% chances of being champion of the competition) and is very close to disputing the decision of the Copa do Brasil, since he won the first game of the semifinal against Fortaleza by 4-0.

To achieve these results on the field, it is necessary to have a good team, which is expensive. And to maintain a powerful squad – which has big names, such as Hulk and Diego Costa – a strategy was needed to generate more revenue.

Atlético-MG's innovation department plan, led by Felipe Ribbe, paved the way for the club to maintain a high-level team in the medium and long term, and bet on three (3) fronts: fan tokens, digital asset auctions and own development of an advertising platform. According to data from the director, the club has already generated more than R$6 million this year with these actions alone.

“Over the next few years, traditional sources of revenue will still be the main ones for clubs not only in Brazil, but around the world. But the tendency is for this balance to improve. We often say that innovation is a marathon, not a 100 meter dash. We talk about NFTs. Are we making money? Yes. Is it relevant? If you compare it with sponsorship, right of transmission, it is not relevant. But I am very confident that in three or five years it will be a very important source of revenue”, commented Ribbe in a recent interview.

collectible cards

The first new source of income found by the club from Minas Gerais was the NFTs, in the month of May. NFTs (non-fungible token) are nothing more than a non-fungible token – a digital certificate that defines the originality and exclusivity of a digital good. Which makes the product, even if digital, a unique work.

These original items certified by the club are made in the form of collectible cards, and auctioned on the Sorare website – the company responsible for making fantasy football games. There, a person buys the cards of their favorite players and assembles their teams to compete with others.

The price of these items then varies from auction to auction. The Galo's most expensive cards, so far, were those of winger Guilherme Arana (R$90 thousand) and Diego Costa (R$70 thousand). The club is entitled to a brand licensing percentage and, according to Atlético-MG, it has already been possible to move more than R$3 million on the platform.

fan tokens

Fan tokens are a digital asset protected by cryptography that, like all other digital currencies, can be traded on the stock exchange and suffer fluctuations in value. The biggest fan token platform in the world is Socios.com. Fans who purchase club currency gain access to exclusive interaction services with their favorite sporting institution.

In August, Atlético-MG was the first Brazilian club to partner with Socios.com and offer its digital assets – called “$GALO” – to fans. The action was a success: the club sold, in a few hours, all 850,000 units of tokens available and the balance – shared with the platform – was almost R$10 million in transactions.

Some of the actions that the club created for cryptocurrency buyers were votes to choose the new model of captain's armband that the team will use and the name of the new official bus of the men's soccer team. In addition, as a campaign to give visibility to women's football, token holders were able to suggest the starting lineup for the 6th round of the Campeonato Mineiro that year.

Rooster Ads

Also in August, Atlético-MG launched Galo Ads: a technology based on Google Ads and Facebook Ads, thus becoming the first Brazilian football club to use its database to generate business through its own advertising platform. . The technology allows advertising campaigns to be broadcast on the club's official channels; website, social media profiles, newsletters and smartphone application.

According to the club, it doesn't matter the size of the company that wants to be a digital advertiser on the platform. The process is simple: just go to the “ads.atletico.com.br” website, choose the digital campaign strategy, select the format and in which official channels of the club the advertiser wants to stamp his brand, and define how much he intends to invest in the campaign. campaign.

According to the directors of the alvinegro club, Galo Ads has already received more than R$1 million in less than two (2) months since its creation. The value is not significant compared to the total revenue of the team, but the department in charge expects to significantly increase the collection in the coming years.

Adoption of new technologies by other football clubs in Brazil

After Galo's innovations, other Brazilian clubs also entered the digital world in search of new recipes. Corinthians, Flamengo and São Paulo entered into partnerships with Socios.com for the sale of fan tokens. Botafogo, Coritiba, Cruzeiro, Santos and Vasco have other types of tokens and in partnership with other companies.

NFTs have also been "discovered" by Ceará, Corinthians and Cuiabá, who recently announced an agreement with the Sorare platform for the sale of their collectible cards. A unique ad platform, such as Galo Ads, is still exclusive to Atlético-MG in the Brazilian market.