United Fans is a platform created for football fans and club managements worldwide that will increase collaboration and strengthen the football community.
Fans will be able to own and manage their team, by themselves, in an easy way. By creating a voting platform based on the Ethereum blockchain, fans can vote on important issues, raise capital for a variety of purposes, or buy tickets and merchandise and even reward their favorite player after a great game.
This collaboration, among fans, club management and players will:
a) help management make better decisions, using crowd wisdom,
b) increase the number of fans,
c) increase support.
United Fans believe is that blockchain technology and smart contracts will change the world of football and aim to be a leading player in this huge opportunity, by offering an innovative and secure platform for football fans and team management.
Let’s find out more in this exclusive interview with CEO Niv Tal:
Q: Hi Niv! Thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us more about yourself and United Fans project?
A: Hi! Thanks for having me here. I was an ex-professional football player in Israel. I really enjoy football and I have always wanted to start my own company. UnitedFans is a vision I have to provide democracy and allow fans to participate in decision-making processes through tamper-proof voting.
Q: Did you personally face a problem within the industry or do you think there is a gap in the market for United Fans to fill?
A: Yes, My favorite team at the time Hapoel Petach – Tikva went through a lot of financial and management trouble due to poor management by the few people in charge. It really disappointed the fans and myself. Looking at FC Barcelona’s success, where there is not only 1 group of people who own the club, but rather tens of thousands of fans, does prove there is a need for this kind of idea as fans do need to be involved in the game for good management. Although it may not seem like it, but many clubs struggle financially due to poor management and budgeting issues, if fans get involved and are willing to vote and contribute by raising capital, the profits will increase and the fans will be more satisfied.
Q: How you came up with the idea of United Fans?
A: As Hapoel Petach – Tikva went down its path, I was approached by a non-profit organization that united fans together. They were willing to pay membership fees, donate money and vote together to support Hapoel Petach – Tikva. I am now at the head of that organization, where we recently helped a poor talented football player pay his rent through voting and fundraising. This truly inspired me and gave me the idea that this concept is really needed and will have much support by the fans.
Q: Tell us about the presale politics (dates, terms, discount)?
A: The pre-sale starts May 31st with a 50% bonus for those contributing over 1ETH. There is a bonus of 100% for those contributing 10ETH. The pre-sale ends on June 30th with ICO starting 1 month after that.
Q: Talk a bit about this cool piece of the platform – you actually help fans to purchase tickets, purchase merchandise, vote on issues, raise money for their favorite football club & even reward a player after a game. How does that work?
A: We are currently developing our application. Users will be able to purchase their game tickets and merchandise at a cheaper price (Through our partnerships with clubs) using cryptocurrency. They will also be able to vote & participate in decision-making processes through our platform that will be run on Ethereum blockchain technology to allow the most democratic and fair approach for the fans. Users will also be able to raise money for specific causes like supporting poor talented children & even directly reward the players after their game if they ever feel the need to.
Q: Can you tell us a bit more about your partnership with Gianluca Zambrotta professional footballer who played for major clubs across Europe like Juventus, Barcelona, Millan.
A: Yes! We flew out to Como, Italy to his Eracle sports center on May 8th to sign our partnership. We are happy to have him on the team with us. He will be our ambassador, promote our project and provide valuable support and advice to reach out to the clubs we might sign later on.
Q: What has been your happiest moment so far working on United Fans?
On the flipside, what has been the most painful, or perhaps the most regretful decision you’ve made with United Fans?
A: I would say the happiest moment was the day we signed Zambrotta in person. It really gave me hope and energy to pursue my goal knowing that such a great footballer supported our idea.
There is no real painful moment working and trying to achieve what is better for the fans and the community. However, there are a lot of stressful moments and deadlines to meet.
Q: What about competition? There have been cryptocurrency projects that have targeted the football industry. What makes United Fans different?
A: Nearly all those in the football industry are for merchandise and game tickets purchasing. For us, that is just an extra feature above our decision making processes. Why purchase your game tickets with crypto when you can just purchase them with fiat? There really is no use case of blockchain technology for those ICOs (Our competitors). We are leveraging Ethereum blockchain technology for the voting process and decision-making, that is a real blockchain use case.
Q: What do you think is the biggest challenge or obstacle United Fans will face? How do you plan to tackle that challenge?
A: I think it will be the selection of the first club to integrate, because we need a club that has a good reputation and that has many loyal fans. Also, if successful, the first club will lead way to many other clubs. As you know, we have signed with Fifa World cup winner Gianluca Zambrotta, we believe he can give us valuable advice when choosing the right club and put us into contact with the right person. Also, we are already in talks with a few clubs, but we like to keep it confidential until we have actually signed a club.
Q: What is the plan and your further actions?
A: We will start by finishing the fundraising part. We have already raised the soft cap, MVP development is underway and should be finished by the end of the year. After that, we will integrate the first team we will sign (Most likely a first or second division league team from England). From that, we will integrate many more and improve the application as we move on.
Q: Moving on to more personal stuff, what does a typical day in your life look like?
A: There is no such thing a typical day in my life, but there are things that are important for me in the weekly schedule, like spending at least one day quality time with my kids, 2-3 times a week going to the gym, and startup work basically takes most of the time
Q: What is your “bird’s eye view” of the blockchain industry as a whole?
A: I’m a big fan of Ethereum blockchain technology, because of its complexity with the smart contracts and all the features that can be changed. For the industry as a whole, I believe blockchain technology will definitely change and impact our lives in the near future with its numerous use cases. However, we must stay reasonable with all these ICOs coming out and their REAL use cases.
