Should international supporters of a football club have as much say as ones who live in its home city and should fans have to pay to have a voice?

It's a question Manchester City football club is facing as it becomes the most recent signing for Socios.com and its "fan token" product. 

The digital supporter engagement tool is controversial to some and Manchester City is the second UK team to work with it, following an ill-fated period with West Ham United in 2019. 

The French tool allows sports teams to monetize their most ardent fans and gain new supporters by offering tokens for loyalty such as buying season tickets. Fans can then redeem the tokens for extra products or experiences. The tokens are a form of digital currency to be traded and use blockchain in a similar way to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Manchester City token is known as "$CITY." The tokens are accessed via club-specific apps. 

"We are excited to launch the new Manchester City Fan Token, which will provide another opportunity for our fans all over the world to get even closer to the club they love. Fans will have access to fantastic competitions and VIP experiences and be able to vote on club initiatives," said Stephan Cieplik, senior vice president of global partnerships sales at City Football Group. 

London-based football club West Ham dropped its tie-up when the Football Supporters' Association said it was against the unwritten rule that fan engagement should not be paid for. (Socios CEO Alexandre Dreyfus said the decision was made to drop West Ham and sign instead with FC Barcelona, what he referred to as a "bigger fish.")

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But along with Barcelona, City is joining the likes of Paris St Germain, Roma, Juventus, and Galatasaray in Europe as well as Argentina's Club Atletico Independiente and several esports teams, such as OG. 

Socios said Manchester City avoided the battle West Ham had with their fanbase by offering a free token to all existing members, known as "Cityzens." 

Although there is a risk of fans balking at the idea of paying (more) for access, City are betting on their global fanbase buying the tokens to feel closer to the action. As the Socio slogan goes, City thinks supporters will want to "be more than a fan."

As Cieplik mentioned, Socios gives fans the chance to vote on club initiatives. Juventus tried this out to great effect in 2020, by asking supporters to vote in a poll to choose the music that plays in the stadium when the home team scores. For a decade, The Fratellis' Chelsea Dagger had rung out whenever Juventus scored. But after the votes were counted Song 2 by Blur was the winner. If you listen closely next Saturday, when the team plays Napoli, maybe you'll hear it. 

And whether local fans like it or not, Dreyfuss said his product is just a solution to the changing face of the beautiful game. 

"You have fans everywhere in the world and not recognizing these fans is discrimination. If you do not accept that a fan in Japan who spends hundreds of dollars buying a jersey and watching the team, he's not entitled to be a fan because he was not born in the city? That's discrimination. We believe the future of football is more engagement with fans all over the world," he told The Independent.