Bitcoin’s ‘Ted Lasso’ Explains ‘Real Plan’ Behind British Football Team Purchase

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The volatile but lucrative cryptocurrency boom has created vast fortunes almost overnight and new cash flooding sports and entertainment as part of aggressive brand building efforts.

But the latest twist concerns Peter McCormack, a Bitcoin (BTC-USD) investor and podcaster, who took a different approach. He bought his hometown football club (or football as it is called in the UK), with the aim of attracting money to turn the team into a powerhouse.

Bearing the trademark of AppleTV + ‘s flagship series “Ted Lasso”, McCormack has become the new chairman of Bedford FC. He is now preparing to take his club to the highest competitive circuit in English football, the Premier League.

Born and raised in Bedford, McCormack told Yahoo Finance it’s a childhood dream that can ultimately help build pride in his hometown – and make the team a contender.

“Bedford is an area that really hasn’t seen any major growth other than people coming back from London who can afford to buy bigger houses, and I was like ‘what’s the only thing I can To do ? “” McCormack told Yahoo Finance.

“I have a Bitcoin community of these 100 million crazy Bitcoin users around the world who will be supporting the project. We can create success in the city with a football team,” he added.

But Bedford FC is “not a crypto club. It’s not about getting people to buy cryptocurrency or [non-fungible tokens] or any of that nonsense, ”McCormack said.

“What we are is a football club which will be run as a professional business” which attracts sponsors to create the money to be spent on players, equipment and facilities, “he added. .

No “flash in the pan”

A representation of the virtual cryptocurrency Bitcoin is placed on a US dollar banknote in this illustration taken on November 28, 2021. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration

Last year, fat companies with profits from a booming crypto cycle faced a new problem: Rapid growth did not translate into name recognition.

To address this problem, many spent over $ 1 billion on advertising – and cryptocurrency exchanges were the most aggressive. Gemini commissioned an ad for Spike Lee, and Crypto.com paid Matt Damon to say “Fortune favors the brave” in a widely worn out move.

The story continues

But the most significant crypto campaigns have focused on sports, another industry awash in new money created by betting.

Enter the “Ted Lasso” analogy. The show features an English football team competing in an open league, where the plot revolves around a clumsy American coach hired by a new owner to overthrow the dismal franchise. Based on performance, the best and worst teams are promoted (or demoted) within a league.

Bedford Football Club is part of England’s tenth division, which means the club need to be promoted 9 times before they can compete in the Premier League.

No stranger to this system, McCormack’s strategy is based on harnessing a global community of Bitcoin enthusiasts and advertising demand from Bitcoin companies.

He is not the only one. The Washington Post first reported that WAGMI United, a group of leading US cryptocurrency investors, recently made an offer to buy Premier League team Bradford City AFC.

But the current Bradford president has rejected the offer, after reports that fans were resistant to the possibility of a new owner, according to Coinmarket cap. McCormack was luckier.

“There are a few lucky things for me that have converged in a few months. I lived here [Bedford] for all my life… I understand British football. I like football. I go to games all the time, ”said McCormack.

The podcaster has spent years building his own business out of advertising deals with crypto companies for his show. Considering the level of interest in the merchandise and the pace at which it sells sponsors, the club’s first year of revenue “could be a small League 1 club,” the entrepreneur said.

According to the club’s website, it is already sponsored by three Bitcoin mining companies: Compass Mining, Hut 8 and Luxor.

Still, the crypto is notoriously bogus. McCormack added that his team, which will be renamed Real Bedford FC, will not be sensitive to short-term fluctuations in Bitcoin prices.

“I don’t want people to see this as some weird crypto project that’s a whirlwind idea,” he told Yahoo Finance. “This is not a crypto project, this is a business and football project. We are just operating with a Bitcoin standard.”

David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @dshollers.

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