Tokenization in soccer leagues. Is fan engagement for real?

IF 6.3 2区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE Research in International Business and Finance Pub Date : 2025-03-02 DOI:10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.102827

Pablo Agnese , Yuqing Xiao

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Fan tokens grant sports supporters a set of rights that makes for a closer and more engaging association with their clubs. Our study offers a two-pronged strategy to consolidate our understanding of this new and disruptive asset class in the field of soccer. First, our event study shows that abnormal returns are negatively driven by fan sentiment during and around the clubs’ match days, yet the effect becomes positive when considering the national team’s match days. Second, our counterfactual simulations suggest that fan tokens are indeed driven by fan sentiments and not by mere crypto speculation. Our dataset contains data on the fan tokens of four major soccer clubs (Barcelona, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Juventus) during 2021–2023, and distinguishes between the teams’ local match days, UEFA Champions match days, and the World Cup’s match days. We believe our intuitions are timely and can be useful both as a guide for portfolio management and for tailoring the soon-to-be legislation of crypto assets in general and fan tokens in particular.

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来源期刊

Research in International Business and Finance BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

11.20

自引率

9.20%

发文量

240

期刊介绍： Research in International Business and Finance (RIBAF) seeks to consolidate its position as a premier scholarly vehicle of academic finance. The Journal publishes high quality, insightful, well-written papers that explore current and new issues in international finance. Papers that foster dialogue, innovation, and intellectual risk-taking in financial studies; as well as shed light on the interaction between finance and broader societal concerns are particularly appreciated. The Journal welcomes submissions that seek to expand the boundaries of academic finance and otherwise challenge the discipline. Papers studying finance using a variety of methodologies; as well as interdisciplinary studies will be considered for publication. Papers that examine topical issues using extensive international data sets are welcome. Single-country studies can also be considered for publication provided that they develop novel methodological and theoretical approaches or fall within the Journal''s priority themes. It is especially important that single-country studies communicate to the reader why the particular chosen country is especially relevant to the issue being investigated. [...] The scope of topics that are most interesting to RIBAF readers include the following: -Financial markets and institutions -Financial practices and sustainability -The impact of national culture on finance -The impact of formal and informal institutions on finance -Privatizations, public financing, and nonprofit issues in finance -Interdisciplinary financial studies -Finance and international development -International financial crises and regulation -Financialization studies -International financial integration and architecture -Behavioral aspects in finance -Consumer finance -Methodologies and conceptualization issues related to finance