WISeKey Protects Sports Revenue and Connects Clubs with their Fans

WISeKey Protects Sports Revenue and Connects Clubs with their Fans

The new NanoSealRT(TM) and VaultIC155 NFC tags or tokens allied to WISeKey’s WISfans® and WISeAuthentic platforms provide sports clubs with a consistent robust way to protect their brands and reinforce their interaction with fans

Geneva, Switzerland – November 5, 2018: WISeKey International Holding Ltd (WIHN.SW, OTTCQX: WIKYY) (“WISeKey”), a Swiss based cybersecurity and IoT company, today announced that it is releasing its new WISfans platform with secure Near Field Communication (NFC) technology support to offer the sports industry a powerful tool to deter counterfeiting of branded merchandise, increase sales and  enhance  fan interaction.

According to Forbes, the 20 most valuable soccer teams in the world generated an average of $428 million in revenue during the 2016-2017 season (40% more than five years ago). Part of this revenue comes from the sale of branded merchandise. It is estimated that more than half of the world’s population, approximately 4.0 billion people, consider themselves to be soccer fans, making it the most popular sport in the world. While sales of branded merchandise for the sports industry continue to grow, counterfeiting has become a major issue for clubs and their fans. WISeKeys’ WISfans and its NanoSealRT/VaultIC155 NFC tags/tokens provide sports clubs with a consistent robust way to protect their brands from counterfeiting, while reinforcing their interaction with fans. Specifically, WISfans helps sports clubs:

• Improve engagement with fans: WISfans keeps fans engaged on and off the field through a digital “clubhouse” ecosystem that taps into a sport franchise’s fan base, centralizes and curates the massive amount of content (blogs, match reports, videos, photos, fan-supported social campaigns, social networks and sports forums), and injects ongoing exclusive additional content provided by the team and its players. The platform also offers cutting-edge digital perks such as facial biometric comparisons with the teams’ star players.   
• Protect their brand: WISeKey’s WISfans now comes with the Company’s award winning WISeAuthentic original module for digital brand protection. This module allows sports clubs to identify, authenticate and track any of their branded sports items secured with an NFC tag equipped with WISeKey’s NanoSealRT or VaultIC155 secure chip. Additionally, WISfans allows fans to validate the authenticity of the merchandise they are about to purchase, or they already own, using an Android or Apple (with iOS11 or above) smartphone.
• Increase sales: Through the platform, fans can also click through to ticketing, merchandise purchase and sponsor sites, while sports clubs gather back-end analytics about their merchandise and fans. Using WISeKey’s Blockchain technology, the same highly-secured VaultIC155 NFC tag, when placed into a credential, allows sports clubs to identify their fans, initiate or improve engagement, increase participation in the club’s daily life and generate additional revenue for the club.

 “WISeKey’s proven track record and expertise in brand protection and digital identity management is now available to the sports industry for growing revenue and expanding interaction with fans,” said Olivier Debelleix, Director of Brand Protection & Wearable Security Business Unit for WISeKey. “Nowadays, clubs are looking for high-tech tools to secure long term fan retention and loyalty and build relationships which can positively impact their team’s profitability. WISeKey is their natural partner.”

About WISeKey:
WISeKey (SIX: WIHN; OTCQX: WIKYY) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying large scale digital identity ecosystems with a patented process. WISeKey’s Swiss based cryptographic Root of Trust (“RoT”) provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.

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This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey.