Fan Controlled Football (FCF), the only professional sports league that empowers fans to make the key decisions for their favorite team, including calling all the plays in real-time, today announced the closing of a $40 million Series A investment round led by Animoca Brands and Delphi Digital.
Along with 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, co-founder 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.
FCF made its debut in February 2021, featuring four teams owned by some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment including Marshawn Lynch, Quavo, Richard Sherman, Austin Ekeler, Dalvin Cook, and Bob Menery. The league has redefined football for the digital age by combining the competitiveness of live sports, the engagement of fantasy sports, and the interactivity of video games into a live streamed, leaned-in fan experience. Season v1.0 saw FCF become the fastest growing live sports channel on Twitch with nearly 10 million total live views, and one of the top sports Apps in the Apple App Store.
As part of the growth fueled by the closing of the $40 million Series A, FCF today announced two new NFT-governed expansion teams, owned by leaders of the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Gutter Cat Gang communities, respectively. The two new teams join the first two FCF Ballerz Collective NFT expansion teams that were recently announced, doubling the size of FCF for Season v2.0 from four teams to eight.
The four new 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.
NFT owners in each of these communities will be provided an opportunity to receive one of two thousand free FCF Ballerz NFTs for their team, as well as early access to purchase a FCF Baller at a fifty percent discount to the public sale price. To join the team and get in the game, follow the Ballerz Collective on Twitter and join the FCF Discord.
The four original FCF teams include the Beasts, Glacier Boyz, Wild Aces, and Zappers. On March 20, the Wild Aces went on to become the first-ever FCF Champions, after defeating the Glacier Boyz in “The People’s Championship” on a last second, walk-off QB read-option touchdown called by the fans.
Built for the digital fan, FCF’s games are played in a multi-purpose studio arena in Atlanta, and streamed live on Twitch, NBCLX, Peacock, and DAZN. The upcoming nine-week season will kick off on April 16, 2022 with eight teams stacked with pro-caliber players from the NFL, CFL, and NCAA programs. Last season’s rosters included Heisman Trophy Winner Johnny Manziel and NFL stars Josh Gordon and Robert Turbin.
Executive Quotes:
Fan Controlled Football Co-Founder and CEO, Sohrob Farudi:
“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. LFG!”
Animoca Brands Executive Chairman and Co-Founder, Yat Siu:
“We’re excited to support FCF, a league that is at the cutting edge of bringing Web 3.0 and blockchain to professional sports. Having followed its successful and entertaining first season, we look forward to the groundbreaking ways that fans will be able to engage with FCF in the upcoming seasons.”
Famed Musician/Producer and FCF NFT Expansion Team Owner, Steve Aoki:
“The successful strides that FCF is making within web3 are exciting…it’s a privilege to be involved. Really looking forward to building out our NFT community of passionate fans that’ll be calling all the shots for our team.”
Beasts Owner and NFL Legend, Marshawn Lynch:
“FCF is getting they money up, securing them $40 M’s, we ready for seasons 2, 3 and some mo,’” said Beasts Co-owner Marshawn Lynch. “And special shout out to the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Gutter Cat Gang peoples for linking up with our FCF fam. These are the types of partnerships that tell you we ain’t messing around. I can’t wait to see how the whole NFT thing takes fan engagement in the ‘game’ to a whole ‘nother level, ya feel me?”
