Socios.com and Securitize are planning tokenized equity offerings that could give eligible fans and professional investors minority ownership stakes in sports teams, subject to regulatory approval.
The proposed products will be launched under the Socios Equity Token brand and are intended to combine Socios.com’s relationships with sports clubs and its global fan network with Securitize’s regulated securities infrastructure in the United States and Europe.
Socios.com, powered by Chiliz Group, will manage relationships with clubs, owners and supporters. Securitize will oversee the regulated elements of each offering, including the issuance of securities, investor onboarding, ownership records and transfers.
The companies said they expect the products to serve two principal groups. Eligible fans could gain an economic connection to the teams they support, while institutional investors and private equity firms could use the offerings to access professional sports franchises as an alternative asset class.
The global professional sports franchise market is estimated by the companies to be worth about $500bn. However, ownership stakes in teams have traditionally remained private and have been difficult for outside investors to access.
Socios Equity Tokens would be distinct from the Fan Tokens already issued by Socios.com in partnership with more than 70 sports organisations, most of them soccer clubs.
Fan Tokens have mainly been used to strengthen supporter engagement through digital programmes and other club-related features. By contrast, Socios Equity Tokens would be regulated securities linked to minority ownership interests in participating professional teams.
The precise ownership rights and other conditions would be determined by the terms of each individual offering.
Socios.com has spent several years developing its sports network through Fan Tokens. During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Chiliz launched its Burn to Glory campaign, linking the destruction of treasury-held Fan Tokens to match victories by participating national teams.
Crypto.news previously reported that the campaign included tokens connected to Argentina, Belgium, Portugal, South Africa and Scotland. The percentage of tokens burned increased as teams advanced through the tournament. The tokens were removed from treasury holdings following qualifying victories, rather than being taken from individual holders.
The proposed partnership would move Socios.com into a different area of the market, with Securitize supplying the infrastructure required to issue and administer regulated securities.
“By connecting fan engagement with regulated tokenized equity,” the companies said, the initiative is intended for eligible fans seeking a closer economic connection with their teams and professional investors looking for exposure to sports franchises.
No participating teams have yet been identified, and there is no launch date for the first transaction. Offering sizes, investor eligibility criteria, supported blockchain networks and other terms will be announced once individual offerings receive the necessary approvals.
The Socios Equity Token initiative is expected to be the first project launched through Securitize’s fully authorised European Trading & Settlement System under the European Union’s DLT Pilot Regime.
Securitize received approval from the European Union for the system in November 2025, after gaining authorisation from Spain’s National Securities Market Commission.
That approval allows Securitize to operate regulated blockchain-based trading and settlement infrastructure across all 27 EU member states. The company selected Avalanche for the European system and designed it to connect with its existing infrastructure in the United States.
Under the DLT Pilot Regime, the platform can support tokenized equities, bonds and other financial instruments while bringing trading and settlement together within a blockchain-based system.
The sports equity offerings would use that infrastructure if the proposed transactions proceed. The companies have not confirmed which networks would support the Socios Equity Tokens themselves.
Securitize chief executive Carlos Domingo said professional sports teams represented a substantial asset class that had largely remained private and difficult for investors to access.
“Securitize’s regulated infrastructure in the United States and Europe can provide teams and their owners with a new way to issue and administer equity while preserving the investor protections and ownership rights that should come with a regulated security,” Domingo said.
The structure could enable team owners to sell minority interests without necessarily surrendering control. However, neither company has provided details about how ownership, voting rights or governance would operate for any particular club.
Those arrangements would be determined by each offering, alongside relevant securities regulations and investor eligibility requirements.
The partnership follows Securitize’s expansion into public markets earlier this year. The company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in July after completing a roughly $400m special purpose acquisition company transaction.
On the same day, Securitize placed its own shares onchain through tokenized versions of SECZ common stock on Solana and Avalanche. The company said those blockchain-based SECZ shares represented the same common stock traded on the NYSE, rather than a separate class of equity.
Securitize acts as the registered transfer agent, enabling ownership records for the shares to be maintained through its tokenization infrastructure.
Later in July, Securitize Capital became an investment adviser registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The registration took effect on 22 July, placing the subsidiary under federal compliance, disclosure, record-keeping and examination requirements.
Securitize said at the time that it managed more than $5bn in assets through relationships with institutional asset managers. Its tokenization business includes BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, as well as products linked to Apollo, Hamilton Lane and VanEck.
Financial results published in August showed that average tokenized assets under management reached $4.3bn during the second quarter, a 16% increase from the previous year. Aggregate transaction volume rose by 147% year on year to $5.3bn.
Securitize reported a net loss of $21.7m for the quarter, compared with $6.1m a year earlier. It entered the third quarter with $350m in cash and no balance-sheet debt.
The proposed sports products come as conventional financial assets are increasingly being issued or represented on public and permissioned blockchain networks.
Data from RWA.xyz, cited in the announcement, indicated that the market capitalisation of tokenized real-world assets had more than doubled over the previous year and was approaching $40bn.
Tokenized products now include government securities, private credit, investment funds, equities and other financial instruments. Companies such as Securitize have developed regulated systems designed to connect blockchain-based ownership records with established securities frameworks.
If approved, the Socios Equity Tokens would add professional sports franchises to that expanding market of privately held assets.
For now, Socios.com and Securitize have not named the teams expected to take part or confirmed when the first offering will be launched. The companies said participating clubs, offering terms, investor eligibility requirements and supported blockchain networks would be disclosed once individual Socios Equity Token offerings receive approval.
