In a unique twist, WAGMI United has become the first group of owners considering the use of cryptocurrency to buy a soccer team. The group has organized an ownership group composed entirely of NFT enthusiasts. Now the big question will other sports team owners like Malcolm Glazer owner of Manchester United follow suit?
The unique design of each token makes it possible to identify and authenticate who owns the token from ledger information. The use of NFT’s for buying a sports team may become a big trend in 2022 and this may be just the top of the iceberg.
WAGMI United Plans Bold Moves into Football Ownership
WAGMI United plans to upend the English Football League by using this new funding source to make inroads in the league. Next on the agenda might be Liga MX. The American group of investors, which is led by Peter McCormack, makes light of the challenges of managing a soccer club. Albert Tylis (Al Tylis) was quoted in Bloomberg recently when he announced “that he’s auctioning a 1% stake in the club tied to a nonfungible token (NFT)”. Now there’s speculation as to whether Al Tylis and other Liga MX club owners will look to purchase teams via DAO’s and NFTs.
Meanwhile Peter McCormack has also been active in the sports realm making an offer for Bedford. While Peter has absolutely no relation to WAGMI United which is led by Preston Johnson and Eben Smith.
So many deals are involving big names and entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuk or Albert Tylis. These deals all tie in crypto, bitcoin, or NFT’s and that’s something that’s expected to be a big trend in 2022.
Separately another investment group that includes Philadelphia 76ers President Daryl Morey and NFT lover and super marketer Gary Vaynerchuk. Morey admitted that the group was in the final stages of negotiations to buy an English football team using cryptocurrency.
The group claims that it is the first sale of a professional sports franchise through cryptocurrency, but that is patently false. Partial stakes have been financed before including controlling interest stakes. One Club Necaxa owner recently sold a 1% stake in the Mexican soccer team through an NFT as we mentioned above via the Al Tylis quote.
The ownership group of American investors have adapted the Crypto slogan, “We’re All Going to Make It” for use by the newly purchased soccer team.
Bradford City Denies Advanced Negotiations
When asked about the deal, Bradford City Chairman Stefan Rupp denied a change of ownership had taken place, but he admitted that an offer was tendered in an email communication. Mr Rupp commented, “Despite reports…I can confirm it is not (a done deal).
Buying a Liga MX team would quickly show WAGMI United’s commitment to making inroads throughout the world’s soccer leagues. Liga MX, División de México, ranks as the top football division in the Mexican system. The league is run by the Mexican Football Federation, a league that currently has 18 clubs with plans to add two more.
The league is considered by most experts to be the strongest in North America, which makes its teams strong targets for the American investing group. In fact, some consider the league to be the strongest in all of the Americas.
The sports industry rapidly recognized the potential value of cryptocurrency and how you can tie in NFT’s with sports ownership opportunities that wouldn’t be traditionally available otherwise. Prior to this the only connection between Cryptocurrency and sports was that sportsbooks accepted bitcoin for deposit and withdraw purposes. Now they have the opportunity to transform the world for the better
Clubs can monetize various initiatives using blockchain technology, using the ledger-validated currency avoids the need to handle physical currency, which provides Covid-19 benefits to fans and sellers. Even Mark Cuban got in on the rush in 2021 announcing that the Dallas Mavericks would start accepting Doge Coin.
Reactive marketers are finding ways to revolutionize new revenue streams using NFTs, Bitcoin, fan tokens and crypto-sponsorships. More and more sports teams are choosing to invest large parts of their advertising budgets in crypto partnerships for exchange platforms led by the exchange FTX who has landed naming rights for the Miami Heats basketball arena.
Other Bitcoin Transactions in Professional Sports
In 2018, the Turkish football club called Harunustaspor became the first football team to buy a player’s contract using Bitcoin. The player was 22-year-old Farak Kiroglu. The player received 0.0524 in Bitcoin, which was valued at £385, and ₺2,500 in Turkish lira. While this is much smaller than Al Tylis’s Liga MX announcement and much bigger deals will be announced in 2022 it’s a great starting point.
The Italian soccer team Rimini FC 1912 became the first team to be purchased using cryptocurrency. Three years ago, Heritage Sport Holding became the first owner to buy a team using blockchain technology. The organization used Quantocoin to buy 25% of the club.
Heritage Sport Holdings started operations in 2013 in Dubai. One part of the company focuses on facilitating team acquisitions while the other half invests directly in various sports-related businesses in both Asian and European countries.
The floodgates are now open for increased NFT investments in team ownerships, trading platforms, sports-related merchandise and even payer contracts. Expect this to be a growing trend in 2022.
