11 March 2022, Kragujevac, Zug
One of the most successful futsal clubs in Europe, by winning 11 national championship, Ekonomac became the most successful futsal club of all time in Serbia. As the most successful futsal club in the history of this sport in the country. The club has attracted the likes of top Brazilian futsal players such as Daniel, Divanei (former Kairat Almaty player) and João Carlos Gonçalves Filho also known as Nenê who also played for the lieks of Sporting CP and Benfica, competing with the best in Europe for many seasons. The club made its first appearance in the UEFA Futsal Cup in 2008 when they reached the elite round. They qualified as the Serbian champions and started the competition in the main round. Ekonomac set a large list of records in its eight appearances in the UEFA Futsal Cup, being the only Serbian futsal club who participated eight times. The club also reached the elite round every time it participated in UEFA competitions. By frequently participating in the UEFA Futsal Cup, Ekonomac was ranked high, often in top 6, in the UEFA club ranking list. In 2015, when UEFA published the new futsal club ranking list, KMF Ekonomac was ranked as the fourth futsal club in Europe with 21,000 points. With this new ranking, Ekonomac qualified directly to the elite round for the 2015–16 season, thus setting a new record for Serbian futsal. The club became the highest-ranked Serbian futsal team in the history, and is also the only Serbian futsal club who has qualified directly to the elite round.
By signing a 5-year partnership with Swiss-based Sports Tech company Blocksport, Ekonomac has positioned itself as one of the first futsal clubs in the world to fully embrace the power of blockchain technology, digitalisation, and tokenization. The partnership aims to develop new digital ways for fans to be more involved with the club starting with the launch of a new interactive app for fans which will see engagement and digitalization go beyond the borders of Kragujevac and Serbia. It will be followed by the launch and release of Ekonomac’s NFTs, and eventually their own Fan Tokens which will be utility based, hence totally non speculative. Ekonomac produced some of the world’s most successful futsal players and dozens of Serbia national team players too.
Petar Veselinovic, President of KMF Ekonomac added;
“Ekonomac is a futsal club with rich history and we are very proud to be the world’s second futsal club to join the blockchain journey which will make our club a global player. Ekonomac has so much to offer and we have been rebuilding the club for some time now and this partnership could not have come in a better time for us. I look forward to this exciting journey and have no doubts that all our partners, sponsors, supporters and fans will benefit from these decisions and steps we are taking to make Ekonomac go beyond the borders of Serbia and the region.
Vladimir Liulka, CEO and Co-Founder at Blocksport said:
“Partnerships like this have big importance for Blocksport when it comes down to looking at sports other than football where the spending power is huge. Futsal is a space that in our view is massively undervalued however the popularity around the world is growing and having partnered up with Cordoba Futsal and now KMF Ekonomac, we are seriously exploring the entire sport of futsal on a global stage. Deepening our base in Serbia and the Balkans is also important to us as we see sports such as futsal, waterpolo, handball and athletics very important for Blocksport’s sports ecosystem (in addition to football and basketball) and starting to work with the Serbian clubs that happen to be some of the best in Europe and the world and whose players have been voted as the best in the world holds additional significance to the Blocksport long term strategy. Although I have not been to Kragujevac where Ekonomac is based, I hear some wonderful things about this sporty and University City and I am looking forward to following this partnership closely personally and via my team on the ground.”
Vladimir Stevanovic, Blocksport Representative for the Balkans, added:
“I am personally pleased with this announcement and this new partnership in Serbia as I have personally known the Club’s president for some time now and I know how passionate and committed he is to the growth, development and success of Ekonomac. Kragujevac is a great business, sport and university city in Serbia and I have no doubts that such partnerships will also inspire the generations of new students to embrace such technology innovations and pursue them professionally after graduation. I see an opportunity for Blocksport and Ekonomski Universitet to partner up in the future and possibly inspire and educate the new generation of digitally competent professionals which can only help digitalise and commercialise the sport industry as that generation will tomorrow become one of the biggest ‘consumer’ of digital assets and virtual goods this partnership will be promoting and creating such as Fan App, Fan Tokens and NFTs.”
About KMF EKONOMAC
Ekonomac Kragujevac is a Serbian futsal club based in Kragujevac. Ekonomac is currently competing in the Prva Futsal Liga, which is the premier futsal league in Serbia. One of the most successful futsal clubs in Europe, by winning 11 national championships, Ekonomac became the most successful futsal club of all time in Serbia. As the most successful futsal club in the history of this sport in the country, Ekonomac continued with what might be the club’s best season so far, by winning the championship in the 2013–14 season with an undefeated record (only one draw). In the 2014–15 season, Ekonomac won the Serbian championship again as well as reaching the elite round of the UEFA Futsal Cup. The club made its first appearance in the UEFA Futsal Cup in 2008 when they reached the elite round. They qualified as the Serbian champions and started the competition in the main round. Ekonomac set a large list of records in its eight appearances in the UEFA Futsal Cup, being the only Serbian futsal club who participated eight times. The club also reached the elite round every time it participated in UEFA competitions. By frequently participating in the UEFA Futsal Cup, Ekonomac was ranked high in the UEFA club ranking list. In 2015, when UEFA published the new futsal club ranking list, KMF Ekonomac was ranked as the fourth futsal club in Europe with 21,000 points. With this new ranking, Ekonomac qualified directly to the elite round for the 2015–16 season, thus setting a new record for Serbian futsal. The club became the highest-ranked Serbian futsal team in the history, and is also the only Serbian futsal club who has qualified directly to the elite round.
About BLOCKSPORT
Blocksport is an innovative Technology provider providing solutions for the sports industry. The blockchain- focused Sports Tech was founded in 2019 in Zug, Switzerland. Today, the company’s flagship product serves over 40 clients globally and among them top clubs including Empoli FC, Dynamo Kyiv, OHL, Metalist, Partizan BC, Red Star RC, ARIS BC, Cordoba Futsal, to name a few.
