The Economist is a complete treasure trove of interesting business stories.
In the June 16th edition, they had a brilliantly titled little article ("Here Comes Fanchester United") about one Will Brooks, a U.K. football journalist who's trying to enlist 50,000 football fans willing to invest about $70 each to buy their own team.
What they're out an about is amply described on the My Football Club site, where we learn that the membership fees will be used to buy a club, which will be equally owned by its members. The club of choice will be decided by member votes, with due diligence resulting in selection of "the most suitable and feasible club." (I.e., the members might well vote to buy themselves Manchester United, but 50,000 fans at $70 a pop would render purchase of this club a tad infeasible.
They aren't looking for any old club, however. They need to be able to buy controlling interest (at minimum, 51%); they want no or low debt' and "the club has the potential to reach the Premiership." (Beyond knowing that Manchester United is the big kahuna of British football clubs, I'm not all that sure how professional sports works in the UK. I believe that the Premiership means the top league - to and from which clubs can rotate in and out of based on their performance. It would be as if, say, the Boston Celtics could be dropped from the NBA for abysmal performance and replaced by a team playing in a lesser professional league - maybe the University of Florida or the Harlem Globetrotters.
Once the fans own the team, they will also:
...have a say in tactics, by voting for [the] preferred style of play and substitutions depending on match situations. The Head Coach will field the 11 players, formation and tactics chosen by MyFootballClub members.
To help [the] decision-making, the Head Coach and players will give regular video briefings. There will also be reports from the training ground and members can submit Opposition Scouting Reports.
Members will also have veto/approval power over which players the team hires or trades.
Now this sounds like fun. Can you imagine if the Yankees' fans had the power to override some of George Steinbrenner's decisions? Closer to home, would Red Sox fans have let Theo deal Bronson Arroyo for Willie Mo Pena?
Democracy in action might mean chaos on the field and in the clubhouse, but this sure takes Citizen Marketer - not to mention all those rotisserie fan fantasy leagues - a step further.
I will be watching developments here with interest. Fortunately, I will be able to do so with minimal effort on my part, since my brother-in-law John, the only truly rabid American soccer fan I know personally, has signed up for a share.
So far, the club as over 42,000 members registered. 50,000 is the magic number. I have let my husband know that, if in a couple of months they're still short a few fans, that we will ourselves be joining. We will leave the voting on tactics to John, but - as long as the colors are decent - I will purchase a football jersey and wear it proudly.
I do not, however, have any plans to fly over to England and become a soccer hooligan.
I will remain on this side of the pond, discreetly rooting our boys on, hoping that they gain the Premiership - whatever that means or is.
You are so right about the Economist articles. Sometimes I feel like I can't miss a single article in the Economist which makes it a heavy read. And this particular article on the "micro-owned" football club makes me think of the Grameen bank in Bangladesh. Kind of powerful, if not fanciful. As for my own colors, I support Liverpool, and what I like about this team is how they spend the big bucks, more than the big bucks themselves. But a taret team with "red" in it, somehow might be appropriate, no?
ReplyDeleteI signed up to myfootballclub right from the start, despite a load of scepticism from many parties about it being a scam, waste of money etc. What a dream though, for a little club to make up it the ranks to play against the 'big boys'!
ReplyDeleteLike Minter, I'm a Liverpool fan - hopefully the Reds will make a serious title challenge after Rafa's big pre-season buys!
Ah, Maureen. This is not a dream. This is the basis of the Green Bay Packers, a community-owned team! Democrazy, baby! What started as a way to keep the smallest-market NFL franchise from leaving Green Bay, WI in the 1950s expanded nationally and internationally with an Internet-based stock offering in the late 1990s. Today, fans -- who are proud shareholders, like me, -- can yell at the television every Sunday and say: "Fire that guy!" and mean it.
ReplyDeleteHi Maureen. Over 53,000 signed up and now the site has now started collecting the membership fees. But they won't close the doors to new members. Still time for you to join!
ReplyDeleteI was delighted to hear that the number of members was reached. (My brother-in-law - that rarity: an American who loves "football", knows all the Brit teams, subscribes to footie mags - is one of them. Me, if someone decides to do this for baseball, I might be interested...
ReplyDeleteInteresting article, interesting blog! but i would happily put a bet on football managers / coaches who are in charge of a team owned and dictated by the fans would have their work cut out... can you imagine the kind of added pressure having to account for 40,000 different viewpoints on how the team should play on saturday!! I like the idea in theory, but you could not allow team decisions to made by such a large number of people. de-centralising such power would cause havoc and im sure the players themselves would not tolerate it either
ReplyDelete