Securitize and Socios.com have partnered to develop regulated tokenized equity offerings that would represent minority ownership stakes in professional sports teams.
Summary
- Securitize and Socios.com will develop regulated tokenized equity representing minority stakes in professional sports teams.
- Socios.com will manage sports and fan relationships, while Securitize will handle issuance, investor onboarding, ownership records and transfers.
- The first offering is expected to use Securitize’s authorized EU DLT trading and settlement system.
- Participating teams, investment terms, eligibility requirements and supported blockchains will be disclosed after individual offerings are approved.
The companies said the planned offerings will operate under the Socios Equity Token brand, combining Socios.com’s sports relationships and fan network with Securitize’s regulated securities infrastructure in the United States and Europe.
Socios.com, which is powered by Chiliz Group, will lead relationships with teams, owners and fans. Securitize will handle the regulated side of the offerings, including securities issuance, investor onboarding, ownership records and transfers.
The companies plan to structure the products for two groups of investors. Eligible fans could gain an economic relationship with the teams they support, while institutional and private equity investors could use the offerings to access professional sports franchises as an alternative asset class.
Professional sports franchises represent an estimated $500 billion global market, according to the firms, but ownership stakes have largely remained private and difficult for outside investors to access.
Socios Equity Token would represent regulated team ownership
Socios Equity Tokens would differ from the Fan Tokens that Socios.com has issued with more than 70 sports organizations, most of them soccer clubs.
Fan Tokens have primarily been used to connect supporters with clubs through digital engagement programs and other team-related features. The planned equity products would instead represent regulated securities tied to minority ownership interests in participating professional teams.
Specific ownership rights and other conditions will depend on the terms of each approved offering.
Socios.com has spent years building its sports network around Fan Tokens. During the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Chiliz introduced its Burn to Glory campaign, which linked treasury-held Fan Token burns to match victories by participating national teams.
Crypto.news previously reported that the program covered tokens tied to Argentina, Belgium, Portugal, South Africa and Scotland, with burn percentages increasing as teams progressed through the tournament. The tokens were removed from treasury holdings after qualifying victories instead of being taken from holders.
The sports equity partnership would take Socios.com into a different part of the market, with Securitize providing the infrastructure needed 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 been disclosed so far. Offering sizes, investor eligibility requirements, supported blockchain networks and other terms will be announced when individual transactions receive the necessary approvals.
Securitize plans to use its EU DLT system
The Socios Equity Token initiative is expected to become the first project launched through Securitize’s fully authorized European Trading & Settlement System under the European Union’s DLT Pilot Regime.
Securitize secured EU approval for the system in November 2025 after receiving authorization from Spain’s National Securities Market Commission.
The approval allows the company to operate regulated blockchain-based trading and settlement infrastructure across all 27 EU member states. Securitize chose Avalanche for the European system and designed it to connect with its existing U.S. infrastructure.
Under the DLT Pilot Regime, the platform can support tokenized equities, bonds and other financial instruments while combining trading and settlement within a blockchain-based structure.
The sports equity offerings would use that infrastructure if individual transactions move forward, although the companies have not confirmed which networks will support the Socios Equity Tokens themselves.
Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo described professional sports teams as a significant asset class that has remained largely private and difficult 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 allow team owners to sell minority interests without necessarily giving up control, although the companies have not disclosed how ownership, voting rights or governance would be structured for any specific club.
Those details will depend on each offering, along with applicable securities regulations and investor eligibility requirements.
Securitize has expanded its tokenized securities business
The partnership follows Securitize’s expansion into public markets earlier this year.
Securitize began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in July after completing a roughly $400 million SPAC transaction. On the same day, the company placed its own shares onchain through tokenized versions of SECZ common stock on Solana and Avalanche.
The blockchain-based SECZ shares represent the same common stock traded on the NYSE rather than a separate equity class, according to the company. Securitize acts as the registered transfer agent, allowing ownership records for those shares to be maintained through its tokenization infrastructure.
Its regulated U.S. operations expanded later in July when Securitize Capital became an SEC-registered investment adviser.
The SEC adviser registration became effective on July 22 and placed the subsidiary under federal compliance, disclosure, recordkeeping and examination requirements.
At the time, Securitize said it managed more than $5 billion in assets through relationships with institutional asset managers. Its tokenization business includes BlackRock’s BUIDL fund alongside products connected with firms including Apollo, Hamilton Lane and VanEck.
Financial results published in August showed average tokenized assets under management reached $4.3 billion during the second quarter, up 16% from a year earlier. Aggregate transaction volume reached $5.3 billion, representing a 147% year-over-year increase.
Securitize reported a $21.7 million net loss for the quarter compared with $6.1 million a year earlier, while entering the third quarter with $350 million in cash and no balance sheet debt.
Tokenized real world assets approach $40 billion
The planned sports offerings come as more conventional financial assets are being issued or represented on public and permissioned blockchain networks.
The market capitalization of tokenized real world assets has more than doubled over the past year and is approaching $40 billion, according to RWA.xyz data cited in the announcement.
Tokenized products now span government securities, private credit, investment funds, equities and other financial instruments, while companies including Securitize have built regulated infrastructure connecting blockchain-based records with existing securities frameworks.
Professional sports franchises would add another type of privately held asset to that market if the Socios Equity Token offerings receive approval.
For now, Socios.com and Securitize have not named the teams expected to participate or provided a launch date for the first transaction.
The companies said participating clubs, offering terms, investor eligibility requirements and supported blockchain networks will be disclosed when individual Socios Equity Token offerings are approved.
