Crowdfunding Teams Through NFTs
WAGMI United makes a move.
Hi NFT Community.
As a sports fan and somebody who has worked with sports brands and a lot of athletes over the years, when NFTs first came on my radar at the beginning of March 2021, they instantly presented an opportunity in my mind for sports teams, organisations, and athletes who were in need of financial support to crowdfund their businesses and careers.
The first project that really grabbed my attention was from recently retired multi-Superbowl champion Rob Gronkowsky (Gronk), when his NFT auction generated $1.8 million in primary sales on OpenSea.
Working with athletes and seeing the success of Gronk’s NFT project early in 2021, this was when the penny really dropped for me with NFTs and the opportunity, so I dug in and never looked back.
Ever since, I, along with my team have been speaking to athletes, representatives of sports teams, and numerous other entities from sports agents to managers, and so on, about the potential to generate revenue streams through NFTs.
There’s been some scepticism as you would expect from brands with reputations to protect, 2021 was no doubt the wild west in NFTs (and still is to some degree), so we have advised that these people and brands focus on education and learn from what others are doing and the mistakes they’re making rather than diving right it and having problems. That said, things are definitely starting to change.
As the market matures, lessons have been learned, and a lot of the core concerns like security and sustainability are being addressed, we’re starting to see more brands developing the confidence to dip their toes in the waters of Web3.
I want to tell you about the WAGMI United and their new NFT project as a great example of a sports team entering the NFT space, but before I get into it, I want to paint a little picture of professional sports for those who may be unaware.
When people think of professional sports teams and athletes they often assume everybody is rich and money isn’t an issue, that’s only for the elite level. There is a whole industry of pro sports teams and individuals competing at high levels with full-time professional commitment who have to work very hard to generate revenue to support themselves. Not everyone is getting huge TV deals.
Take lower league Football (soccer) teams for example, outside of the elite leagues like the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga, most pro football clubs have to work very hard to generate revenue because they don’t have the same attention from the global market and huge sponsorship and TV money deals like the elites.
This is why NFTs will play such a huge role in professional sports in my opinion. They have opened up a new revenue stream for those who require the extra funding and new ways to engage their loyal fan bases. For anybody who executes a project well and delivers on what they say they’re going to deliver, the opportunities are quite exciting.
So, let’s talk about WAGMI United.
WAGMI (We Are Gonna Make It) United, are an NFT focused project who have purchased a professional football club in England that will enable fans to play a personal role in shaping the future of a professional sports team.
WAGMI aims to bring
“Web3's most innovative ideas and passionate communities to the world of sports.”
Back in April, WAGMI United bought Crawley Town FC. For those of you who don’t know, Crawley Town FC is an English Football League 2 club with a stadium capacity of just over 6,000. In the English football (soccer) league system this represents technically the fourth division.
1. Premier League
2. The Championship
3. League 1
4. League 2
The team at WAGMI have lofty goals as made clear by the following statement.
“Together, we're going to take Crawley Town to the Premier League.”
They’re focused on building a global digital community of fans around the club and empowering them with a real voice toward team decisions. The NFTs have been designed and produced in partnership with Adidas.
With ownership of an NFT, collectors will have access to many club perks that include tickets to some games, live feeds to watch games, and redeeming physical and digital merch items created by Adidas. In addition, holders will be able to vote on key club decisions like deciding whether key personnel keep their roles at the club if the team does not earn promotion to League One by the end of their second full season in charge. That’s some serious responsibility and a breath of fresh air for football fans who want to play a hands-on role in determining the club’s success.
One aspect of their approach that I very much support is that they’re going to give long-time, local Crawley Town FC fans a bigger voice in their club than they’ve previously had. As someone who has been an avid football fan my entire life and has been involved in the lower leagues and grassroots football, you don’t find more passionate fans than those supporting at the lower levels so they deserve to have this opportunity. The club will create a fan council to meet with owners and offer feedback and ideas taking a hands-on role in helping to deliver the strategy going forward.
Preston Johnson, co-founder of WAGMI United.
"There are some traditional sports teams that claim to be ‘community owned.’ But what do fans actually get? A piece of paper they can frame on their wall? We think they deserve more than that,”
“We want Crawley Town FC to be a community club that reaches anyone with an internet connection. Doing that right means giving our fans a real voice in real decisions that actually make a difference on the field and meaningfully contribute to writing the next chapter in the club’s storied 125-year history. So if you’ve ever wanted to have a say in how your favorite team is run, this is your chance. This is your club.”
Another fun addition is that there is an access-all-areas deal for TV cameras to follow the club and its players, as it introduces this new ownership model. Viewers, who buy Crawley’s new NFT Adidas kit collection will be able to vote on new player signings in the documentary. Wall To Wall is the company producing the doc and was also behind the popular BBC series, “Who Do You Think You Are”?
This is a project I am here for and I will get behind. It’ll be the start of many, watch this space.
If you’re interested in minting one of these NFTs.
There will be 12,000 NFTs priced at 0.35 ETH
The mint date is Friday, July 8, 2022. There is a pre-mint and waitlist window before it goes to public mint.
I expect to see a lot more teams taking this approach in the coming years, especially the savvy clubs that know they have a good solid fan base to begin with.
This isn’t a concept isolated to sports. Singers, bands, comedians, actors, studios, venues, production houses, artists (early adopters of NFTs), and many other creatives, charities, and organisations can look to crowdfund their businesses through NFTs, providing they create something of demand that gets people interested and excited.
The possibilities are endless.
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Thanks for reading, David Skilling.
Before you go, check out some of the links below.
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Disclaimer: None of the content provided by The NFTV should be considered advice. The thoughts and ideas presented are personal opinions and for entertainment purposes only. You (and only you) are responsible for the financial decisions that you make, you should always do your own research as investing comes with risk. The ideas presented here are my opinions at the date of writing and may change in the future.