Blockchain entertainment technology developer Animoca Brands and cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital co-led a $40m series A round on Wednesday for Fan Controlled Football (FCF), a US-based, fan-controlled American football league.
Telecommunications firm Verizon’s corporate venturing unit, Verizon Ventures, also took part in the round, as did trading firm Jump Trading’s Jump Crypto unit.
Gemini Frontier Fund, NGC Ventures, 6th Man Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Talis Capital, Correlation Ventures, Basecamp Fund and private investors including Sebastian Borget filled out the investors.
Founded in 2017, Fan Controlled Football is a professional indoor American football league where fans can decide which plays the teams run in real time. Fans holding specialised non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have voting power to select plays and can gain more power as the season goes on.
The league currently with four teams, whose owners include sports and entertainment personalities such as Quavo, Richard Sherman and Austin Ekeler, and the funding will allow it to expand to eight.
FCF marks an early example of the potential for direct, real-time, interactive relationships between blockchain-based assets and real professional sports, potentially ushering in an era of increased audience participation in live events.
The model is not, however, the first mash up of blockchain and sports, and certainly not for Animoca Brands.
In summer 2020, Animoca Brands took part in a $12m funding round for blockchain gaming app developer Dapper Labs, the developor of NFT-based sports trading card game NBA Top Shots.
The firm also entered into a joint venture with racehorse and equestrian breeder business Aquis Farm last month to develop NFTs, games and metaverse products with a direct relationship to real world equestrian events such as rodeo, showjumping and horse racing, as well as the horses themselves.
The FCF deal is a further data point showing the growth of the play-to-earn space. Last month, Animoca Brands and cryptocurrency exchange Binance’s Smart Chain subsidiary launched a $200m investment scheme targeting play-to-earn and gaming finance projects to help bring them to fruition.
Sohrob Farudi, FCF’s founder and chief executive, said: “This is a historic day for FCF. The backing of investors like Animoca Brands and Delphi Digital, leaders in Web3, further validates our initial success and vision to build the first pro sports league for the digital age.
“FCF combines the passion and excitement of traditional football with the best of web3, digital collectibles and play-to-earn gaming, creating a unique IRL meets URL entertainment experience that was not possible until now. Many startup football leagues never make it to a second season, and we are now pumped for season v2.0 and v3.0 of FCF.”
Image courtesy of FCSE Inc.
