Tottenham have questions to answer as ‘absurd’ commercial deal is ripped apart by finance expert
It is safe to say that the partnership between Tottenham and Fanblock hasn’t gotten off to the best of starts, which leaves Daniel Levy and the club with some explaining to do.
Earlier this season Spurs announced (Tottenham Hotspur Official Website, 6 December) that they had partnered up with Fanblock, a digital gaming platform, “to offer a unique opportunity for its global fanbase to interact with the Club’s matches like never before.”
It was a partnership announcement which was probably not entirely clear to the traditional football fan, and Tottenham tried to explain it as best they could in their official statement.
What this deal effectively meant was that Spurs supporters could purchase virtual blocks of Spurs’ digital football pitch, and would be rewarded with points based on real-life actions that occurred in their block of the pitch.
Those points could then be exchanged for a variety of rewards which ranged from pennants and balls up to VIP premium tickets and private stadium tours, with Tottenham the first Premier League club to engage with this technology.
Effectively, while this was not made clear, these ‘Fanblocks’ are NFTs (non-fungible tokens) – which haven’t always proven so successful in the past.
Spurs supporters are probably curious as to what this all means, and the answer as it appears, is not very much.
Tottenham left with questions to answer as Fanblock partnership ripped apart by finance expert
While Spurs’ official announcement offered very few warnings or caution signs about their Fanblock partnership, Martin Calladine’s recent thread on his personal X account (7 April) certainly has.
The finance expert and author of ‘No Questions Asked: How Football Joined the Crypto Con’ has ripped into the partnership, pointing out a lack of engagement, with one of Fanblock’s tweets fetching a measly 72 views.
He notes how while Fanblock is labelled as Spurs’ “Official MetaField Partner” on their website, the club are yet to put out any promotional tweets about their so-called “partners”.
It appears that although a partnership has been agreed, Spurs want as few people to know about it as possible, which is understandably an instant red flag.
With the risks and dangers that come with investing in Crypto or ‘NFTs’, many would think that Tottenham would stay well clear of this commercial agreement altogether.
And from the lack of promotion, it appears the club wish they had stayed well clear, which should be a very obvious warning sign to Tottenham supporters.
In other Tottenham news, a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg transfer decision has been made after what the midfielder did recently.
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