UFC Partners With Chiliz To Expand Fan Engagement

The most popular mixed martial arts (MMA) organization in the world, UFC, has partnered up with blockchain-based fan engagement company Chiliz, the UFC announced on May 7.

Chiliz has already partnered with major soccer clubs including FC Barcelona, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain, as well as esports giants OG, who have won the Dota 2 International tournament, the biggest esports tournament in the world, two times in a row. Chiliz enables sports and entertainment fans to get involved in their favorite teams’ operations, including voting on polls and earning exclusive experiences.

The fan engagement process is facilitated through the Socios app, where fans can participate in various team activities. Using the CHZ token, the cryptocurrency that powers Socios, fans can purchase Fan Tokens that are sold on Chiliz.net, which is a marketplace for sports and entertainment digital assets. Owning Fan Tokens is what allows fans to participate in the aforementioned team activities.

The goal of the UFC with this partnership is to engage more intimately with sports fans around the world through countless opportunities such as tickets to UFC events and pre-sale access to tickets.

Nicholas Smith, UFC Vice President Global Partnerships, commented on the partnership:

“Chiliz and Socios.com are industry leaders in blockchain based fan engagement and our two companies share a common philosophy to always ‘be first,’ so we are thrilled to begin this new partnership. UFC continually strives to enhance the fan experience and we are looking forward to working with the team on innovative and unique ways to achieve this goal.”

Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO and founder of Chiliz and Socios, added:

“By partnering with Chiliz, UFC now has access to a captive audience of fans from some of the biggest sporting organisations on the planet, creating an unprecedented opportunity to attract new followers. This exciting partnership is the first major example of how we can use blockchain technology to create incredible engagement opportunities not only for our Fan Token partners, but for other leading enterprises, too.”