How to Invest in Football Players

Your next video will start in
  • Info

  • Comments


Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Fantex CEO Buck French discusses the company's plans to sell shares in individual football players on Bloomberg Television's "Market Makers." (Source: Bloomberg)

That is a great handle.

Appreciate that.

Ok, talk about this.

This was brought up a few months ago.

Arian foster was the one who wanted to sell shares first.

Got injured.

Kind of makes it tough.

Isn't that a huge cautionary tale for a guy like vernon davis?

Absolutely, injuries are a risk for anyone in the national football league.

At the end of the day, there are different degrees of injury, catastrophic versus normal -- normal wear and tear on an nfl player.

Ok, let's say you are rg iii, because we were just talking about the redskins and the tigers -- and my husband loves him some rg iii.

Let's say you are talking about future income.

You want him to play the way he did, but he was taken out.

Doesn't that mess up the incentives in football to do the right thing?

I do not think so.

Apparently not.

One way -- i am working with rg iii.

He got paid either which way.

You are really not investing directly in a human being obviously.

You are investing in the contract signed with the player that is tied to their future income stream.

So, the question from an investor standpoint is rg iii still being paid?

In this case, he was.

Your revenue stream would still be coming in.

Do you have anyone playing in the super bowl?

How would they work out?

There were two players, arian foster, who had an injury so we postponed his entry.

And vernon davis.

How does this work?

This is something every prospective investor can understand.

You are going to sell $4.2 million worth of stock in vernon . is he going to get most of that money?


You are going to get how much?

There is a five percent trade.

So he pretty much gets -- right.

Does the investor gets $4 million.

Is it like a literary advance?

No, what the investor is investing in is a tracking stock linked to the value and performance of the contract signed with vernon davis.

So he gets 4 million bucks and those investors nothing?

He owes 10% of every one dollar he earns in the future based on the definition of his brand demo which in turn be security the investors are buying is linked to that cash flow stream.

What it is a tracking stock.

The investors never see that go -- that dough.

No, they absolutely have dividends.

So it is more than just a tracking stock then?

Any tracking stock and pay dividends.

If that asset accrues value, whether it is through accumulation of cash on a balance sheet with black -- balance sheet -- so, is it like a bond?

It is not a bond.

Tracking stocks were more popular in the late 1990's. it is not as popular now.

It tracks a specific assets of a business.

So, it's more than just their salary, correct?


It is more than what they are paid for being on the field.

It's includes endorsement income?

Endorsement income as well as potential income post career.

When we looked at pantex -- fantex, there was not a relationship, but where do you stand?

We have spent time with the nfl.

We have not spoken to anyone directly at the nfl -- that is hard for me to get my head around.

I am not saying they need to endorse this or get up cuts.

-- get a cut.

Why do you not need to talk to the nfl?


We are talking directly with the players association that works with the players.

If this works out, if vernon davis works out, the tracking stock.

He does not have a career ending injury and his endorsements evaporate overnight -- obviously that is what you're hoping for.

Where does it go from there?

Is it just nfl players?

Other sports, baseball, basketball, hockey, golf?

Where does it go?

All of the above.

Our goal is to work with all these brands across the world of sports.

Golf announced that jack nicklaus joined our advisory board.

John elway.

John elway is on our board of directors.

Our goal is to work across the sports world and the entertainment world as well.

I like it.

One thing.



There is a rule in life that it is hard to work for two masters.

If you have shareholders to who you are kind of responsible and the team, who comes first?

The athletes responsibility is to the contract, not to shareholders.

My responsibility is to the shareholders of fantex.

If you buy into the tracking stock, my job is to make sure they are taking care of.



BTV Channel Finder


ZIP is required for U.S. locations

Bloomberg Television in   change