Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), the renowned French football club, is set to expand its involvement in Web3 and SportFi by becoming a validator for the fan token blockchain Chiliz. Cointelegraph recently interviewed Chiliz founder Alexandre Dreyfus and PSG’s head of Web3 Pär Helgosson to discuss the growing partnership between the two entities.
PSG will be the first major football club to serve as a blockchain protocol validator and plans to reinvest the revenue generated from this role to repurchase PSG tokens. This move aims to create a self-sustaining digital economy for the club and its fans.
The Chiliz Chain, which underpins Socios, is the infrastructure used to issue and manage fan tokens for over 150 professional football clubs and sports teams. PSG was one of the early adopters of this technology and launched its fan token on Chiliz in September 2018.
PSG is also looking to explore opportunities in the broader cryptocurrency, Web3, and SportFi spaces, with Helgosson leading these efforts. In November 2023, venture capital firm Animoca Brands joined Chiliz Chain as a validator for its proof-of-stake protocol, following Chiliz’s tokenomics model revamp. Chiliz introduced a new inflation-staking rewards mechanism for CHZ holders and integrated the transaction fee protocol burning scheme EIP-1559.
Helgosson explained that PSG will use the revenue accumulated as a node validator to buy back PSG fan tokens from public marketplaces. These buybacks will be automated and executed through smart contracts on the Chiliz Chain. The goal is to increase revenue through gas fees and supply inflation, which will be reinvested into PSG tokens. This initiative aims to provide rewards, new utilities, functions, products, and services that will benefit PSG tokenholders, sponsors, and players.
PSG and Chiliz are also planning to host a blockchain hackathon at PSG’s iconic Parc des Princes stadium in the summer. The event aims to attract developers to build decentralized applications and products incorporating PSG tokens on the Chiliz Chain.
Dreyfus believes that PSG’s decision to become a validator could inspire other clubs to follow suit and gain a better understanding of the tokenomics within the ecosystem. He explained that PSG’s active involvement in the Chiliz ecosystem, including co-hosting hackathons, will help build trust and attract more brands and developers.
Dreyfus’s long-term goal is to have numerous validators consisting of sports organizations, fan-owned nodes, and cryptocurrency firms. He hopes that PSG’s move will encourage other major clubs to consider becoming node operators.
Helgosson revealed that PSG is actively exploring various ways to diversify its revenues and offerings in the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem. Becoming an infrastructure operator for the Chiliz blockchain is PSG’s first step in actively participating in the Web3 ecosystem. The club has also launched several non-fungible token collections, some of which offer exclusive rewards to holders.
While Helgosson did not disclose the details of PSG’s investment or capital allocation for the Chiliz node-as-a-service partnership, he emphasized the club’s intention to actively engage and reinvest with its Web3 partners. He stated that being a node validator is crucial for building a sustainable tokenomics model for the PSG Fan Token ecosystem and Chiliz.