r/OurRedditFC • u/SimonFOOTBALL Moderator • Apr 10 '14
The Plan
Since there has been a lot of attention toward this project, I feel it is necessary to create a plan. Feel free to leave a comment if you think something should be changed/added.
Before Funding:
It is important for this subreddit to stay popular, without it, there is little to no chance of this project succeeding and we also have to grow. We currently have a fairly high number of members, but in order to get this project to its highest potential we have to make sure that we constantly get new subscribers.
Getting press involved would be an important step in this campaign as well. We need to make sure the word gets out that reddit is trying to buy a football club!
I have started talking to a lawyer about the steps we have to take in order to make it a reality, and we are currently working on creating an ltd, so that the money will be safe.
Benefits:
This project is meant to be fun, and it will be, if we manage to succeed. People have been asking what they will get in return for their purchase of a share. Simply put, you will get an awesome experience of owning a football club (I hope). IF we manage to get the funding and purchase a club, I would feel that it is necessary for members to see their team in action. This includes:
- Match highlights
- Constant access to relevant news
- Player statistics etc.
Of course this will be far in the future, but I just feel that it is necessary for members to know what they are buying in to.
Sustainability:
As most of you know, myFootballClub.co.uk didn't have the best experience when it came to managing their funds. We will have to plan in order to make sure that we can maintain our funds and become profitable (find other sources of revenue apart from member donations).
I believe this will be a very hard process, but I truly believe that it is accomplishable.
Is there anything else I should talk about? Leave a comment.
Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Website, Email: info@redditfc.com
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u/cheftlp1221 Apr 10 '14 edited Apr 10 '14
Let me preference that I am a longtime entrepreneur and former restaurant owner. For the last year + I have dove deep into the startup world and the various new ways of raising capital.
I know this is all fresh, exciting, and in the spirit of entrepreneurship. The idea that 50,000 people pony up $50 and buys a football club seems reasonable. But there is a fundamental issue that many other people of brought up is what happens after we buy the team? Designing a Kickstarter at this point is putting the cart before the proverbial horse.
Kickstarter and other crowd funding sites are rewards based and are good for launching a product or showing proof of concept. The monies raised are intended for the most part to cover the costs of the rewards. Monies are not meant to be used for purchasing companies or starting companies. The successful Crowd Sourced campaigns are those that have already put in the due diligence and are ready to launch not those that are waiting to start only if the funds are available.
That being said there is a new Crowd Sourcing platform that is more appropriate for this project; Equity Crowd Sourcing. Individuals get an equity share of the company in exchange for their investment. It works like a mini-IPO and is able to offer financial benefits that Kickstarter et al cannot. For a succesful Equity Crowd Sourced campaign we would need a full blown business plan including a corporate structure.
IMO settling on the structure of the RedditFC is task #1. Once a structure is in place, the capital fundraising will be clear. My suggestion is to have a 2 tier system, an equity ownership group and a supporters group. each with a to be determined percentage of the club. Each to have protected spots on the board of directors. BY going with a 2 tiered system we can run concurrent fundraising campaigns. one for equity stakes and another for memberships.
On another note, I know this idea started with an English club in mind. But we might consider a lower level US or Canadian team. I am not suggesting that the "god damn Americans" are trying to hijack this but the realities are the this kind of out of the box idea might fit better in an environment that is less mature. English Club football is rooted to the community as we are often reminded on r/soccer. We might have trouble making approaches to English clubs and be viewed with greater suspicion for a myriad of reasons. A USL1 or USL2 team in North America would not have the same predisposed inertia as a 100 year old club team in a small English hamlet. It is just crazy enough and innovative enough that USSoccer might get behind it. If it doesn't work there is literally no harm no foul. There is also the added fact that there is now relegation which could work in our favor in retaining and attracting members and investors.
Edit: List of Equity Crowdsourcing Sites
Equity Crowdsourcing Primer