Professional football club Crawley Town FC sign midfielder as voted by NFT hodlers

by · July 28, 2022

English professional football team Crawley Town FC have followed up on a community poll of fans and NFT holders who were recently given a vote on what type of player the team should recruit next.

The vote, which took place on June 15, which was the first team decision opened up to fans, took place for verified NFT hodlers via a temporary Discord channel. Votes were also taken from almost 1,000 season ticket holders.

Speaking to the Daily Mail on 28 July, Crawley Town co-owner and former ESPN gambling analyst Preston Johnson emphasized the importance of being able to offer fans a stake in the club via NFTs:

“A lot of NFT projects are just speculation with no real tangible backbone, no real true story. Do you have a football club to root for every week? That’s a backbone that people latch on to.”

“If we can bring that to this crypto audience, especially if we’re actually able to achieve promotion and move up the ranks of the English Football League, then that’s an even bigger story that people around the world can be a part of,” he added.

Following the vote, Crawley Town announced the signing of midfielder Jayden Davis last week on a free transfer after the 20-year-old completed a successful trial with the club.

Crawley Town ply their trade in League Two, which for those unfamiliar with English football is confusingly the fourth team in the English professional league structure. The team was purchased by American crypto and Web3 firm WAGMI United (We’re All Gonna Make It) for an estimated $20 million in April.

The firm, founded by Johnson and derivatives trader Eben Smith, has the long-term aim of taking Crawley Town all the way up to join the likes of Liverpool FC and Manchester City in the English Premier League (EPL), England’s top flight.

WAGMI United is also owned by more than 30 investors, with big names like founder Gary Vaynerchuck and Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Darly Moery on that list.

In June, WAGMI United rolled out alternative team shirts for Crawley Town that could only be purchased through the NFTs. The tokens also offer hodlers key benefits such as voting decisions on aspects such as player transfers, along with free Adidas merchandise and exclusive physical and virtual events.

WAGMI United initially launched 10,000 NFTs, and according to the company’s website, there are 1,933 left that can be minted for 0.35 Ether (ETH) worth around $600 at current prices.

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Other companies like Socios have developed their own way of fan engagement via licensed fan tokens with collaborative professional teams. The firm offers hodlers fan tokens benefits such as VIP events, meet and greets, collectibles and Socios merchandise, but notably does not offer fans any meaningful voting rights over their beloved team.

The prices of Socio’s fan tokens are also known to be highly volatile and speculative, which has resulted in strong criticism from many football fans who have expressed concern over the prospect of people losing money while their fandom makes money.

Organized groups such as Football Supporters Europe have also expressed their “dismay” at UEFA’s (European football’s governing body) decision to sign a three-year partnership with Socios back in February, citing such reasons.