Calling all sponsorship agents!
As noted in today’s NYT DealBook story, start-up “Fantex Holdings” is a new trading exchange backed by executives from Silicon Valley, Wall Street and the sports world that can enable investors to buy and sell equity interests in professional athletes, and ultimately, entertainment industry celebrities. The vision is that investors can participate in the revenue generated by these individual ‘brands’ by virtue of owning stock in them.
[For those not familiar with the machinations of Wall Street, the inspiration to this concept comes from the 1990's, when a financial industry genius created "Bowie Bonds"--a bond issue that paid interest from current of future revenue of albums from rock star David Bowie..]
The latest iteration from Fantex (whose execs include a former West Point grad-turned megamillionaire after selling a software company for $600 mil, a former partner of VC firm Benchmark Capital, a former Goldman Sachs exec and now partner of hedge fund Glenview Capital and a former technology wizard from E*Trade), envision Fantex as the ‘hub’ for IPOs and secondary market trading of ‘stocks’ whose underlying value is the revenue generated by the individual ‘brand’ celeb. Sponsorship gurus will necessarily have an ‘axe’ in the equity value of the athletes, as its the sponsors who will serve as a primary source of revenue to that ‘brand’.
If the whole idea sounds convoluted and potentially subject to ‘gaming’, this “pontificator” says:
1. Brilliant Idea. I’d like to be the agent that is selling stock in those athletes.
2. When will Fantex facilitate selling shares in politicians? Once that happens, it will become a lobbyist’s wet dream.
3. Sounds like the SEC will have one more asset class to monitor. Rots of Ruck
Owning Stock in Pro Athletes & Celebs, Just Like Owning Shares in #GOOG!: Calling All Sponsors!
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