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STOCKHOLM/ZUG, Feb 20^th, 2024 — Data Talks, a leading Sports Customer Data Platform (CDP) provider, proudly announces a strategic partnership with Blocksport, a prominent SportsTech solutions provider based in Zug, Switzerland. This collaboration aims to bring innovative solutions to the sports industry, leveraging the strengths of both organisations.

Founded in 2019, Blocksport has swiftly gained recognition for its cutting-edge SportsTech solutions, with a strong focus on blockchain technology.

As a Sports CDP provider, Data Talks is dedicated to helping sports businesses increase revenue by selling more tickets and merchandise and negotiating sponsorship agreements of higher value.  Our platform leverages data-driven insights, empowering organisations to make informed decisions on how to communicate in a way that resonates with their audience. It contributes to financial success while leading to heightened satisfaction among their loyal supporters.

Stefan Laven, Founder and CEO of Data Talks, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “We are thrilled to partner with Blocksport. Their expertise in SportsTech aligns seamlessly with our commitment to driving innovation in the sports industry. Together, we aim to provide game-changing solutions that elevate the capabilities of sports organisations worldwide. This collaboration comes at a pivotal moment when the sports industry increasingly relies on technology to enhance fan engagement, streamline operations, and unlock new revenue streams. The partnership between Data Talks and Blocksport promises to deliver comprehensive and innovative solutions that address the evolving needs of sports organisations in a rapidly changing landscape.”

Samir Ceric, Chief Operating Officer of Blocksport says: “I am thrilled about this strategic partnership and couldn’t be happier that the agreement was actually signed in London during the personal meeting between Stefan and me on his short visit to his London office in the presence of his UK Director. This is by no means yet another partnership announcement with no substance and no clear ambition or goal in mind. When Stefan and I first ‘met up’ virtually all these months ago, I felt the like-mindedness between us in so many aspects from life to business, and the fact that we are both former elite athletes, all the way to the importance of working collaboratively with the companies whose ethos and missions are very similar to the one of us at Blocksport. Only together and in a more systematic way can we help inform and educate all stakeholders and decision-makers within the sports industry, as well as operators in the space of outreach, digital and marketing departments that will at all times benefit fans and their beloved clubs or national teams, first and foremost. Both Data Talks and Blocksport see ourselves as enablers and facilitators of those relationships being taken to another level, deepening fan engagement in the best possible way, enabling fans who may never set foot at a stadium or arena an opportunity to develop a relationship and build a true loyalty with the club and sport they love, and in the process help those professionals running such sports operations improve existing as well as create new revenue streams. The Data Talks – Blocksport ‘duo’ is designed to do exactly that and possibly so much more. The industry needs more education and more thought leadership, proper meaningful conversations and workshops so everything is clear from the get-go and there is never room for misleading or miscommunication of any sort, be it towards sporting properties or their biggest asset, their fans.“

The collaboration between Data Talks and Blocksport aims to transform the sports industry by combining their strengths in customer data and sports technology, paving the way for innovation, enhanced fan engagement, and increased revenue opportunities.

Blocksport, a pioneering force in the sports industry’s digital transformation, has unveiled a groundbreaking initiative, the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Designed as an influential tool, the DAO empowers the community to actively participate in shaping the future of the Blocksport project.

At its core, Blocksport DAO operates as a collaborative platform, where the holders of Blocksport tokens (BSPT) can directly influence the project’s development. This innovative system leverages the collective wisdom and engagement of the community, ensuring that ideas and feature implementations align closely with the desires of its stakeholders.

How Blocksport DAO Works

The DAO’s functionality revolves around a straightforward yet impactful mechanism. BSPT holders possess the ability to propose ideas or feature implementations by creating votings through the platform. Once a proposal is minted as an NFT, other BSPT holders are invited to vote on these suggestions. For an idea or feature to move forward for consideration by the Blocksport senior team, it must garner sufficient support—measured by the aggregated BSPT votes—within a designated timeframe.

Creating a Voting and Voting Process

Participating in the DAO is streamlined through the Blocksport platform. By visiting https://app.blocksport.io/dao and connecting their wallets, BSPT holders validate their ownership status. This authentication process ensures that only verified token holders can actively engage in creating votings. Creating a voting involves minting an NFT with the proposal, while voting requires BSPT holders to support the ideas they endorse.

Eligibility to Propose and Vote

Exclusive participation rights within the Blocksport DAO are reserved for active BSPT holders. This means that only individuals holding BSPT tokens can propose new ideas or feature implementations and cast votes. Whether through holding existing BSPT tokens or acquiring them, individuals passionate about contributing to Blocksport’s evolution have a direct avenue to engage in the decision-making process.

This pioneering initiative not only democratizes decision-making but also nurtures a sense of community ownership within Blocksport. It encourages transparency, inclusivity, and responsiveness, ensuring that the project evolves in alignment with the collective vision and needs of its stakeholders.

The launch of Blocksport DAO marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of decentralized governance within the sports technology sector. By harnessing the collective intelligence of its community, Blocksport sets a precedent for collaborative innovation and inclusivity in the development of digital sports platforms.

In the realm of sports and technology, the future is about collaboration, inclusivity, and empowerment. With Blocksport DAO, the community holds the reins, steering the project toward a future shaped by collective vision and shared aspirations.

Zug, Switzerland – Blocksport today announced an exciting partnership with ProTouch Africa, to unlock the full potential of athletes from Africa. This is the first step in igniting a purpose-led fan community with a platform to connect with their favourite African athletes and, be part of the World’s first fan-owned Athlete Impact Fund.

ProTouch Africa – a sports tech business based in South Africa that provides sports clubs, teams and federations with fan engagement strategies and digital solutions – has assembled an ecosystem, The Podium Pursuit Collective that brings together more than 4,000 top [and potentially top] performing athletes from fifty-four African nations across thirty-six sports codes, their thirty-million fans globally and a network of purpose-led brands that are passionate about seeing more African athletes on the podiums of the World’s biggest sporting events.

“The toughest challenge our athletes face is that of funding and the opportunity to participate in international competitions. This is particularly true in Africa, where even athletes competing in their national teams are forced to self-fund the costs associated with this participation,” said Rebecca Eliot, Founder of The Podium Pursuit Collective.

With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on the horizon, the timing could not be more opportune to activate a collective movement that will make a significant impact on the next generation of athletes, in the lead-up to LA2028 and beyond.

ProTouch Africa and Blocksport have developed a Web3 Fan App – the official Digital Clubhouse for the Collective – providing a platform to unlock value for fans, brands and investors globally. Designed to enable revenue generation through a new digital rights license, the customised fan engagement platform aggregates news and social media, a
match centre with upcoming events across multiple sports codes, results and statistics, an e-commerce fan shop with exclusive and replica merchandise from Africa’s best teams and, partner deals for athletes and fans.

In future versions of the Fan App, fan investors will receive exclusive invitations to purchase digital collectables, premium subscriptions and access investor tokens and the revenue derived from this will be used to further enable the next generation of athletes from Africa. The Fan App, available in both the Google Play and iOS stores features the top athletes from Africa, a digital Hall of Fame and a Live Blog that showcases African Athletes’ Moments of Glory.

A key feature of the platform, is its Digital Athlete Profiles providing athletes from Africa, a new way to connect with their fans as well as build and monetize their brand. By strategically building their personal brands, athletes can attract endorsement deals, sponsorship opportunities, and collaborations with companies in various industries.

“Our AI-powered Marketplace connects brands with top performing athletes who share their values and who wish to leverage their authentic influence and the emotional connections they have with fans, to raise awareness about social and environmental causes as well as connecting current and former athletes to meaningful career opportunities”
added Eliot.

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have established monetisation methods in the form of advertising, sponsored posts and paid partnerships but, they do not share this revenue.

Unlike social media, where algorithms dictate content visibility, The Podium Pursuit Collective Fan App platform provides control over the content experience and interactivity and more importantly, the monetization of this. “By fostering a digital community on our own branded platform, we can curate an environment of authenticity, loyalty and passion that resonates with fans of African athletes and unlocks value for fans, brands and investors” added Eliot.

While the complete Podium Pursuit Collective is planned for release in Q1 2024, the prototype of the Fan App has been released in beta, providing fans and athletes a sneak peek of what is to come. “We will be inviting fans and athletes to participate actively, providing feedback and insights that will shape the final version of the Fan App. This input will be invaluable in ensuring that the final solution reflects the desires and preferences of a dedicated fan community”.

“Unlocking the potential of African athletes isn’t just about sports; it’s about empowering dreams, overcoming barriers, and creating a legacy of impact. Through our partnership with ProTouch Africa, Blocksport’s commitment extends beyond fan engagement; it’s about enabling a movement that reshapes athlete funding, fuels aspirations, and champions a future where passion meets purpose on the world’s stage.” – Vladimir Liulka, CEO of Blocksport

Details on how to get early access will soon be unveiled so fans are encouraged to stay connected to Podium Pursuit's official channels for upcoming announcements. With a steadfast focus on fan engagement, athlete empowerment, and technological innovation, The Podium Pursuit Collective is poised to make an enduring impact on the world of sports, reshaping the sports investment landscape and revolutionizing athlete funding in Africa forever while championing a more positive future for humanity.

For more information contact Rebecca Eliot at +27 83 656 4632 rebecca@protouch.africa

About

PROTOUCH is a Sports Tech business founded in 2016, driven by a vision to ignite fan engagement and activate new revenue streams using digital solutions, for sports brands across Africa.

PROTOUCH is the distributor of the Swiss-based BLOCKSPORT AG Fan Engagement, NFT and Token Platform, enabled by Blockchain technology and providing sporting properties a branded fan app, digital memberships, digital collectables and play-to-earn games. In addition to this white-labelled solution, PROTOUCH has built a range of plug-in modules to cater for additional features required by its sporting clients and provides strategic consulting around fan engagement, Web3 and Tokenization as well as implementation, project management and creative execution services.

Cryptocurrency exchange WhiteBIT has announced a cooperation with Blocksport, a company specializing in Web3 solutions for fan engagement. As part of this collaboration, Blocksport will list fan tokens on the WhiteBIT exchange, allowing sports fans and the exchange community to trade digital assets of their favorite teams, as well as the Blocksport token — BSPT.

The joint efforts of the two companies will focus on expanding opportunities for fan engagement through blockchain technology and cryptocurrency trading. Together, WhiteBIT and Blocksport aim to create a space that caters to both sports enthusiasts and crypto traders.

Volodymyr Nosov, CEO and Founder of WhiteBIT, commented on the collaboration with Blocksport: “Like Blocksport, we are already connected through partnerships in the sports industry, and now we have the opportunity to come together to involve the fan community in the world of digital assets, providing access and all necessary tools for cryptocurrency trading on a secure European exchange.”

Volodymyr Liulka, Co-founder and CEO of Blocksport, believes that “collaborating with WhiteBIT will help build a strong and reliable bridge between the worlds of sports and cryptocurrency. We are confident that together we can achieve incredible heights in bringing sports fans into the blockchain world, providing both them and crypto traders with a powerful space to interact with their favorite crypto assets and the BSPT token.”

Blocksport is a leading Sports Tech company based in Switzerland, specializing in Web3-based fan engagement solutions. With an impressive client list, including top European football, basketball, hockey, and rugby clubs and federations, Blocksport has revolutionized the way fans interact with their favorite sports teams.

WhiteBIT is one of the largest European centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, founded in Ukraine in 2018. The exchange offers over 350 trading pairs, 270 digital assets, and 10 fiat currencies. Its largest daily trading volume exceeds 2.5 billion dollars.

The company’s mission is to provide convenient and secure crypto services and promote the adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrency worldwide. WhiteBIT collaborates with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, is a partner of the government application and portal “Diia,” the Ukrainian national football team, FC Barcelona, and the esports platform FACEIT.

Switzerland, Singapore, August 22, 2023 – Blocksport, a pioneering Sports Tech company, has joined forces with Xion Global, an innovative Web3 payments technology provider, to create a seamless payment experience for users within the Blocksport platform. This partnership aims to enhance the user experience by enabling easy payments for NFTs and fan tokens using Xion’s payments infrastructure.

With Xion Pay, a product of Xion Global, Blocksport users can now effortlessly purchase NFTs and fan tokens, regardless of the blockchain on which they were minted. The integration of Xion Pay ensures that users can transact using any major cryptocurrency on multiple networks, simplifying the payment process and expanding accessibility. This collaboration breaks down barriers between the different blockchain networks and ecosystems of users, providing an interoperable and user-friendly payments experience.

“We are thrilled to partner with Xion Global to provide our users with a streamlined payment experience,” said Vladimir Liulka, CEO of Blocksport. “This collaboration aligns perfectly with our commitment to enhancing fan engagement and creating innovative solutions in the Sports Tech industry. By incorporating Xion Pay, we are taking a significant step towards making the world of NFTs and fan tokens more accessible and convenient for our users.”

“Together with Blocksport, a beacon in sports club and fan engagement, we couldn’t be more thrilled to be redefining the Web3 payments experience in the sports industry together. Cheers to a transformative partnership!”

— Ronan Quarmby, CEO @ Xion Global

In addition to the payments integration, Blocksport and Xion Global plan to launch joint marketing initiatives that will engage the communities of both projects. By combining their expertise and resources, the two companies aim to create a synergistic relationship that benefits their respective user bases.

About Xion Global

Xion Global is a multi-chain Web3 payments technology provider. Makin’ it easy to accept and send crypto payments, reward customers with cashback and build loyalty. As a preeminent payments infrastructure provider for Web3 payments, Xion is dedicated to delivering superior Web3 payment solutions to businesses and users globally.

About Blocksport

Blocksport is a leading Sports Tech company headquartered in Switzerland, specializing in Web3-based fan engagement solutions. The company has forged partnerships with top European sports clubs and federations in football, basketball, hockey, and rugby, redefining the way fans connect with their favorite teams. With a focus on innovation and user experience, Blocksport continues to drive advancements in the sports technology sector.