Global Fútbol

RCD Espanyol have agreed a multi-year partnership with Fayre, one that will make new in-stadium activations possible through Web 3 and the use of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). These NFTs will provide the LaLiga Santander club’s supporters with exclusive access to certain elements and perks inside the RCDE Stadium, improving fan engagement at the same time as opening new commercial opportunities for the club.

The NFT market is growing rapidly and is already becoming an important source of income in the football industry. As a forward-thinking club that is always looking to be at the forefront of emerging trends and to evolve its business models, this was the right time for RCD Espanyol to seek an established partner like Fayre.

Fayre is an experienced and popular NFT community and has described this collaboration as “an industry first” and “unprecedented”. With RCD Espanyol aiming to increase the volume of NFT-related sponsorship business by 15 percent this season, this partnership made perfect sense to those in charge at the RCDE Stadium. 

As Toni Alegre, the club’s marketing director, explained: “The club is always open to new trends and technology and, as such, we understand that this has a lot of potential. We are still at an early stage in the use of NFTs by football clubs, but we’re working to put together a good strategy that will bring the club even closer to the fans through this technology and allow them to enjoy new experiences. We have to give the owners of these NFTs exclusive perks, content and experiences that make them feel like a VIP.”

Over the coming weeks, RCD Espanyol and Fayre will announce further details about their NFT activations and the exclusive benefits that the owners of these NFTs will enjoy. As Alegre stated: “With a wide range of assets (history, players, stadium, anthem, etc.) available to clubs, the possibilities for creating and developing NFTs are endless and there is great potential and scope.”

As well as bringing RCD Espanyol closer to the club’s current fans, this move into the NFTs space will help to attract new followers too. On this, Alegre said: “The target audience for this technology is generally a very young audience, one with a keen interest in technology. Making the club and the sport more accessible to them, by working with these new technologies, will allow us to firstly expand our fanbase and to then work more closely with the fans through the communities created with the owners of these NFTs.”

The key is to build connections with the club’s growing fanbase and to offer experiences that make RCD Espanyol stand out in an increasingly competitive sports and entertainment marketplace. By growing revenue streams and fan engagement simultaneously, there is confidence in the club offices that this can be achieved. As Alegre concluded: “The new revenues should allow the club to keep growing and to offer new users different content and experiences compared to what existed until now.”