Just like the UFC, Arsenal FC, Watford FC and others, sports and crypto are beginning to walk hand in hand, the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team becomes the newest to be in the sports-crypto space.
The Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association have joined Socios, a blockchain-based platform that has tokenized various sports teams across the world.
Socios’ logo will be prominently emblazoned on Cavaliers’ team shirts for the 2019 season, which begins later this year, according to a Monday announcement by blockchain-based sports platform Chiliz.
The site also stated that it was still in the assessment and development phase for the team’s “fan interaction features,” which might be tokens or digital collectibles.
“This is the beginning of an amazing relationship that we hope will lead to considerably better fan interaction for Cavaliers fans all over the world,” Socios and Chiliz CEO Alexandre Dreyfus stated. “Chiliz.com is quickly transforming into a global powerhouse of fan engagement, transforming passive fans into active participants in their favorite teams’ day-to-day activities.”
Socios has already signed collaboration agreements with a number of NBA teams. The Boston Celtics basketball team signed a similar deal for branding and a digital presence earlier this month, while the Philadelphia 76ers joined the fan token platform in June.
Socios’ expansion into North America, where it hopes to create a regional office in the near future, includes agreements with U.S.-based sports teams.
Socios’ announcement coincides with moves by basketball clubs in Canada and the United States that appear to be aimed at bringing sports closer to the crypto sector.
Beginning with the 2019 season, the Portland Trail Blazers will wear the emblem of crypto rewards business StormX on their squad shirts for the next five years.
Last month, the Canadian Elite Basketball League announced that starting next week, players from its seven teams will be able to take a percentage of their earnings in Bitcoin (BTC).