Crowd-buying a soccer team — Update

Quick update about MyFootballClub, which we wrote about when they launched in May. The venture, which hopes to harness the wisdom of crowds to manage a professional league soccer team (or football club, if you prefer), has just reached its target of 50,000 members. If all members follow through and pay their GBP 35 membership fee, MyFootballClub will soon have GBP 1,5 million in the bank and will be able to buy a team. Thanks to a novel concept that garnered plenty of media coverage, it took MyFootballClub less than three months to get 50,000 potential owner-managers to sign up. Negotiations with clubs will start soon; the top 4 clubs on members’ lists are Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Cambridge United and Accrington Stanley, but selection will depend on a club’s availability as well as its popularity. Things will truly become interesting once 50,000 members start managing the team. We’ll keep you posted! Noteworthy: EA, the video game publishers whose roster includes the FIFA series, is sponsoring MyFootballClub. Exact details of the ‘significant investment’ have yet to be disclosed, but 100% of the money will go towards buying the football club. Which entertainment brand will step in to sponsor the crowd managed band—Universal, Sony, Apple? Spotted by: Mark Bowness