In addition to the Chiliz Chain, which attracted many people to the SportFi sector, the company said its Chiliz Labs Incubator and Accelerator Program also contributed to the growth of the sector this year.
Chiliz, a crypto company that offers infrastructure solutions for sports and entertainment companies, experienced a monumental year for SportFi and Fan Tokens, propelling the industry to new heights in 2023.
Despite the challenges many blockchain sectors faced in the first half of the year, SportFi stood out as a success story driven by the launch of Chiliz Chain, the company's Layer 1 protocol with a sequence of other strategic initiatives.
Chiliz earns more than $437 million in revenue
In a press release shared with Coinspeaker, Chiliz highlighted a series of events that helped drive SportFi adoption this year. The launch of Chiliz Chain marked the beginning of a banner year for SportFi, witnessing an influx of international sports organizations leveraging Web3 to incentivize fans and build communities.
The company said it generated $437 million in industry revenue following the official debut of its protocol. The platform has also processed more than three million transactions this year.
The Chiliz chain, which serves as a fundamental component for building SportFi applications, supports several other SportFi use cases, including the minting of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The protocol is also used to create fan tokens and other decentralized finance (DeFi) products, including innovative gaming and Web3-ready ticketing.
Driving SportFi growth
In addition to the Chiliz Chain, which attracted many people to the SportFi sector, the company said its Chiliz Labs Incubator and Accelerator Program also contributed to the growth of the sector this year. According to the release, the incubator and accelerator program launched a $50 million initiative to foster early-stage blockchain projects in the sports space.
Another event that contributed significantly to SportFi's growth in 2023 is the company's acquisition of a 20% stake in MatchWornShirt. The measure sought to take advantage of blockchain technology to improve the authenticity of sports collectibles.
Chiliz also mentioned that it secured over 25 key partnerships this year to create a diverse SportFi ecosystem with projects such as Blockasset, FanFest, LiveLike, Football at AlphaVerse, TopGoal Footballcraft and Lillius.
The company also collaborated with sports charity Common Goal for the “One Shirt Pledge.” The move allowed Chiliz to facilitate athlete donations of match-worn jerseys authenticated on the Chiliz Chain for charity auctions, combining sports heritage with philanthropy.
Socios.com application achieves important milestones
The introduction of Chiliz Chain complemented the existing Socios.com app, a platform used by global sports organizations to drive greater fan engagement.
Following the integration of the application into the protocol, Socios.com achieved important milestones in 2023, experiencing a 30% increase in users in 160 countries.
The company has also witnessed other notable achievements, including the addition of major clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League. Socios.com also introduced the Locker Room feature, which allows users to obtain unique digital collectibles.
Additionally, the platform implemented more than 3,000 fan polls, allowing users to vote on various aspects such as uniform designs, team numbers, and celebration songs from their favorite sports clubs.
Chiliz said Socios.com rewarded 50,000 fans this year with signed merchandise, match tickets and once-in-a-lifetime VIP experiences. Furthermore, Chiliz stated that Socios.com's achievements were only possible through the launch of its layer 1 blockchain platform.
Looking ahead to 2024, the protocol aims to build on these achievements and intensify efforts to mainstream SportFi for the mutual benefit of clubs and fans around the world.
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