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Cryptocurrency investors look south

What happened with the failed cryptocurrency bid for Bradford City?  The Athletic  has been finding out. WAGMI United is a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO), a group governed by computer coding — usually in the form of crypto tokens. Anyone who holds these tokens can vote on matters related to the DAO. The decisions are carried out by automated contracts.  They want to buy a club in League One or League Two, the third and fourth levels of the English football pyramid, and take them to the Premier League. That, believe it or not, is the straightforward bit. They intend to do this by creating club-related NFTs — characters, kits, pictures, videos and so on — that they can sell to the “global community” of crypto traders and NFT enthusiasts. Their NFTs will be better than others already out there, though, as they claim they are offering fans a chance to effectively own a piece of the team.   Remember the web-based Ebbsfleet United MyfFotballClub fiasco?   After five years th
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Fans banned for 'disliking' team

Football fans around the country are uniting to back three Oldham Athletic fans, including the director of the Oldham Athletic Supporters' Foundation, banned for 'disliking' the team or more specifically controversial owner Abraham Lemsagram:  https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/oldham-athletic-ban-fans-lemsagam-22527054 Oldham supporters have said they will not be silenced:  https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/sport/latics/19798134.oldham-athletic-fans-group-responds-supporters-club-ban/ The club cannot ban fans from away games without a court order.
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All Premier League matches on

Premier League matches are to go ahead with no special Covid break:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59732905   I have just done an interview for Sky on this.  A short break in matches - 28th to 30th December had been mentioned - would have little impact either on future postponements or revenues.   The underlying problem is that quite a lot of footballers have not been vaccinated making repeated Covid-19 outbreaks likely. The 28th-30th December dates would have been awkward for Amazon who are showing those games.  Amazon has paid £30 million a season to exclusively show two rounds of Premier League matches. Even on Sunday afternoon, Amazon had adverts running on Sky Sports promoting their own upcoming live Premier League action, in which they pledged to deliver 10 games featuring all 20 teams and urging supporters to sign up. The slot is particularly important as a strategy to Amazon as a delivery service, as it runs around the festive-season shopping period which is so integ
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Chairman looks after Millwall

The authoritative Swiss Ramble reviews the latest accounts of Millwall. Millwall’s financial results for the 2020/21 season, when their pre-tax loss widened from £10.9m to £13.8m, as revenue fell £3.9m (24%) from £16.4m to £12.5m, due to COVID.    The loss wass covered by £8m share capital from owners and £8m EFL loan.   Profit was “significantly impacted” by COVID with total revenue loss to date estimated as £7m, including £6m in 2020/21, partly offset by iFollow streaming income and £1.4m staff furlough income The pre-tax loss widened from £10.9m to £13.8m, largely due to revenue falling £3.9m (24%) from £16.4m to £12.5m, though operating expenses were up £0.7m (3%). actually one of the best results in the Championship, where most clubs operate at a significant loss.   Partly offset by profit on player sales increasing £0.6m to £0.7m and other income rising £1.2m to £2.1m.    This was the lowest reported in the Championship, far below the likes of Norwich £60m, WBA £29m and Brist
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Real lose out on CVC deal

Real Madrid may be at the top of the Spanish league. But off the pitch, the country’s richest and most successful club has suffered a grievous loss.  Last weekend, La Liga signed a €2bn financing deal with private equity group CVC Capital Partners. The fiercest opposition came from  Florentino Pérez , the billionaire president of Real Madrid, who offered up an alternative debt deal. But 37 of 42 Spanish clubs voted in favour of the CVC transaction instead. Real’s defeat is hard to overstate. CVC will invest €2bn to partner with La Liga and be entitled to 8.2 per cent of the Spanish league’s “commercial profits” — meaning its revenues, minus costs from setting up a new commercial entity — for the next 50 years. Opponents, who also include  FC Barcelona  and  Athletic Bilbao , are still seeking to block the deal by filing lawsuits. In the meantime, they have received a carve out. By refusing to take CVC’s cash, they won’t have to give up any of their share of future La Liga revenue
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Bantams takeover talk

Bradford City have distanced themselves from reports that they are going to be taken over by a group of American cryptocurrency investors:  https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/football/bradford-city/are-bradford-city-the-efl-club-set-to-be-taken-over-by-cryptocurrency-investors-3497798 However, the WAGMI United Group has been in touch with supporters:  https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/sportlatest/19790734.bradford-city-fan-speaks-talking-wagmi-united-group/ Philadelphia 76ers team president Daryl Morey is reported to be among the group keen on City. It is headed by sports gambling analyst Preston Johnson and co-founder Eben Smith, who has a background in finance. Businessman Gary Vaynerchuk, chairman of communications company VaynerX, and Tik Tok social media figure Bryce Hall have also been named among those involved.
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