Price Dynamics Between Digital and Traditional Finance: An Examination of the Asymmetric Relationship Between Sports Club Fan Tokens and Stock Returns in Türkiye

This study examines the financial interaction between stock returns and fan tokens of the four major football clubs competing in the Türkiye Super League and publicly traded. The study analyzed the return relationship between fan tokens representing digital assets and shares representing traditional assets using the asymmetric causality test method. In this respect, it explains how digital assets integrate with traditional financial markets using empirical data. The study aimed to fill a significant gap in the literature by focusing on four publicly traded clubs in Türkiye. The results show that there are both symmetric and asymmetric causal relationships between these two different types of investments. They also show that different clubs respond to market shocks in different ways, either by causing or not causing them. Especially in the cases of Beşiktaş, Fenerbahçe, and Galatasaray, positive developments in fan tokens have been observed to have a significant impact on their stock prices. In the case of Trabzonspor, no significant relationship in this direction has been identified. The bidirectional causality relationship between the two assets has only been observed in some cases for Galatasaray (positive shocks of token and both negative and positive shocks of stocks). These results suggest that there may be an alternative option for investors seeking to benefit from price movements in two different markets when making portfolio choices.

Cite this article as: Oğuz, O. (2026). Price dynamics between digital and traditional finance: an examination of the asymmetric relationship between sports club fan tokens and stock returns in Türkiye. Research in Sports Science, 16, 0012, doi: 10.5152/rss.2026.26012.