Back in 2007, 50,000+ soccer enthusiasts, organized by the startup MyFootballClub, banded together to purchase an English football club, which ended up being Ebbsfleet United FC. The community was responsible for all decisions related to the club. Last fall, an internet collective come together to raise $40M to buy a copy of the US Constitution through a DAO. Advancements in decentralized and streaming technology are fostering a new wave of innovation and engagement based on collective control that was previously not possible. Fan Controlled Football is a professional football league that allows fans to be involved in the gameplay and management of their favorite teams. Fans have a say in branding, personnel decisions, and even play-calling in real-time as if they are playing a real-life video game. The league plays all its games in a state-of-the-art arena based in Atlanta using modified rules that drive interest, excitement, and action with games broadcasted live on Twitch. Fan Controlled Football quickly recognized the concept was ideal for Web3 and blockchain and is now making integrating 4 new NFT-powered teams into the league, doubling the number of teams to eight for the upcoming season (the league’s second) that will start in mid-April.
LA TechWatch caught up with Fan Controlled Football Cofounder and Chief Growth Officer Grant Cohen to learn more about how FCF blends technology, sports, gaming, and decentralization into a professional sports league, the company’s strategic plans, upcoming season, latest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $55, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Fan Controlled Football (FCF) announced the closing of a $40M Series A investment round led by Animoca Brands and Delphi Digital. Along with leads Animoca Brands and Delphi Digital, other investors include Gemini Frontier Fund, 6th Man Ventures, Jump Crypto, Red Beard Ventures, Spartan Capital, NGC Ventures, executives at GoldenTree Asset Management, and Sebastian Borget, cofounder of The Sandbox. Additionally, all of the league’s initial Seed investors participated, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Talis Capital, Verizon Ventures, Correlation Ventures, and Basecamp Fund.
Tell us about Fan Controlled Footoball.
Professional sports league built for digital age. The idea behind our business is we focus heavily on the digital fan experience, streaming, engagement, and fan activity. We are at the forefront democratizing professional sports. Built as an entertainment platform, we have been compared as a real-life Madden.
We will be announcing series of interesting mechanics that lend itself to the NFT and Web 3.0 space including with the addition of 4 FCF Ballerz Collective NFT expansion teams doubling the size of FCF for Season v2.0 from four teams to eight.
The four new NFT teams will all be part of FCF’s innovative Ballerz Collective, a first-of-its-kind NFT community that will provide fans holding FCF Ballerz NFTs with team governance rights, play-to-earn game mechanics, and unique IRL utility and VIP experiences at FCF’s soon to be revealed state-of-the-art venue in Atlanta, GA. The Ballerz Collective NFT teams include:
- The Gutter Cat Gang community team led by King BlackBored, Dr. Dicatrio, Vivek Ravishanker, SpottieWiFi, and former NFL legend Jamal Anderson.
- The Bored Ape Yacht Club community with team ownership featuring TropoFarmer, Josh Ong, Jerseyborn, Franklin, Lindsey Byrnes, BenJammin, NFTsAnonymous, Jeff Nicholas, and Spr3adsh33t.
- Knights of Degen led by their founders and community members, which include NFL legends Tiki and Ronde Barber, Jerry Ferrara, Cynthia Frelund from NFL Network, Jasmine Maietta from Round21, Drew Austin, and more.
- Team 8OKI, led by two highly recognized blockchain advocates – famed musician and producer Steve Aoki, and 888, legendary collector and founder of 888 Inner Circle and 888 The New World whose mission is to empower artists, creators, and the digital art community.
How is it different?
We take the modern approach to operating a professional sports league however the branding and the makeup of our teams are much different. The FCF is a fast-paced and high-scoring game. Yes, just as it sounds. For the first time ever, fans can make real front office decisions and call all the plays in real-time via our strategic partnership with Twitch and FCF mobile app. FCF is a condensed version of the outdoor game:
- 50-yard by 35-yard field with 10-yard end zones
- 7 vs 7 game format
- 3-man offensive line
- 60-minute Games, running time start to finish
- No kickoffs, no punts, no goal posts.
- 1pt and 2pt conversions: Conversions in the FCF are going to be epic 1-on-1 battles between a WR and a DB with 3 seconds for the QB to throw the ball. 1pt from the five, 2pts from the 10.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
18-45 Male, Sports & Gaming enthusiast at the intersection of fantasy, gaming, sports betting, and culture. Live football is still highly rated programming on TV today. Combine that with the popularity of video games, we have a huge opportunity.
What are your post-COVID office plans?
We are a digital company; we operated our entire first Season v1.0 without all being under the same roof. We have gone virtual, spread out across the country. A number of us live in Southern California and me in Los Angeles but the team continues to grow. Our home field will once again be in the Atlanta market and will begin this Spring April 16, 2022.
What was the funding process like?
Raising scaled capital is always hard, but I do think we were aided by the overwhelming success of our Season v1.0 campaign. We were able to point to the traction as a proof point — that we can deliver and build an engaged audience. The other key was our focus on being the first sports league built for web3. It has always been a primary focus of ours and the influx of capital into that space with the explosion of many NFT projects and revenues aligned very well with our vision and timing.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
I think finding the right investor profile. Over the last year, much of the capital you see being deployed on the tech side has been focused on web3 projects and blockchain. This is an area we’ve long been focused on building out. I think it was really a matter of finding the right investors and once we did, The Chairman of Animoca, the first major web3 fund we pitched immediately understood the potential. Once we had our lead, it opened the doors into a network of people who were in that same mindset, same space, and really understood understanding our vision.
I think finding the right investor profile. Over the last year, much of the capital you see being deployed on the tech side has been focused on web3 projects and blockchain. This is an area we’ve long been focused on building out. I think it was really a matter of finding the right investors and once we did, The Chairman of Animoca, the first major web3 fund we pitched immediately understood the potential. Once we had our lead, it opened the doors into a network of people who were in that same mindset, same space, and really understood understanding our vision.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Combination of traction and the upside. The traction that we had in Season v1.0 being able to prove that we could go out and do this even during a pandemic, deliver and create a really awesome compelling fan experience with high engagement & high retention. The upside story and the concept that we’re planning on rolling out on the broader sort of market adoption that’s happening in NFTs.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
I think the big thing successfully running Season v2.0 and Season v3.0 achieving meaningful revenue goals aiming to hit across NFT adoption, fan engagement, and sponsorship plus the fact we are activating in person. Last year we didn’t have any fans in the building due to Covid, so having them there this year will really help enhance the environment. We will need to create an engaging on-site live experience we can sell tickets and merch that will unlock new revenue streams and opportunity for fans to be a part of this.
What advice can you offer companies in Los Angeles that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Knock on a lot of doors – it can take a while to find the right investor who really gets your thesis and is aligned with it. While it depends on what your business does, if there is a smart angle that organically makes sense for your company that web3, embrace the hell out of it. The headlines tell the story, just read LA TechWatch and you’ll know where the money is flowing right now, due to the high volume of consumer spending and interest. Get smart on it and fast. I’m not saying pivot, our business is staying very much the same we’re simply incorporating those key components into it as we grow the league.
Knock on a lot of doors – it can take a while to find the right investor who really gets your thesis and is aligned with it. While it depends on what your business does, if there is a smart angle that organically makes sense for your company that web3, embrace the hell out of it. The headlines tell the story, just read LA TechWatch and you’ll know where the money is flowing right now, due to the high volume of consumer spending and interest. Get smart on it and fast. I’m not saying pivot, our business is staying very much the same we’re simply incorporating those key components into it as we grow the league. Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
The company is going all the way up! We’ve got an opportunity with this capital and the upcoming seasons to really crush growth, that’s the plan we’re gonna go out there play some excellent football while we build a thriving NFT community and have a whole lot of fun doing it.
What is your favorite restaurant in LA?
Before Corona when we were all in an office together, we were based in east Culver City off of Jefferson and La Cienega. Our favorite local spot for team lunches was Mizlala on West Adams. It’s a very cool, modern take on Israeli / Middle Eastern food with a nice outside patio. We would go on days where we had big deals closed or a warm Friday and it was always delicious!
