Fan Controlled Football (FCF) is a new category of interactive entertainment that blurs the line between traditional sports and video games, with a fan-controlled league that puts owners (you!) in control of everything from real-time play calls to jersey designs.

Video games and esports have dramatically changed consumer expectations for entertainment. Younger fans now require short form content, digital distribution and interactivity, paving the way for the skyrocketing use of platforms like Twitch. 

As leagues and teams are scrambling to find new ways to connect and engage, FCF presents fans with a next-gen solution.

How does it work? It all starts with choosing a team.

Meet the Beasts

BeastMode is no stranger to building championship-caliber teams. He earned a repuation for being one of the most feared players in the NFL, winning one Super Bowl and being named to the NFL’s All-Pro team five times during his career. Now he’s building a team of his own. But he needs your help.

Team Owners: 

• Marshawn Lynch - 4-time Pro Bowl NFL running back
• Renee Montgomery - WNBA star point guard
• Miro - professional wrestler
• You - Invest in the Beasts

Check out the other three teams in the FCF's inaugural season, all open for investment on Republic.

FCF is both an exciting brand of highly competitive football and an engaging digital game where fans are a real part of their team's success

Each team is led by famous owners who actively engage  their fans to help make all of their team's key decisions. FCF games are played on a set designed exclusively for the digital audience and all games are streamed live on Twitch, giving fans at home a truly interactive sports experience.

• Multi-year content distribution agreement  with Amazon's Twitch
• Centralized model enabling shared services across teams for maximum efficiency and production value
• Interactive experience adds scalable digital revenue streams on top of the established models for pro-sports monetization
• Global reach of 100M+ rabid fans enabled through organic involvement of famous team owners

Fans call the shots like a real-life video game

Fans interact with their team owners, who give advice as part of their live commentary during every game.

Fans select from the  best of eight play options based on the game situation, with a recommendation engine built in partnership with IBM Watson.

Call the right play and earn FanIQ - as fans climb the leaderboard they unlock greater access and power for running their team.

Live stream + real-time play calling integrated directly into the viewing experience across desktop, mobile and connected TV.

The fan experience is like EA Madden for real life.

A game where the fans and the players are on the same team

Participation is free and all fans have a voice, but not all fans are created equal. 

Fans earn FAN IQ by engaging in the FCF ecosystem, voting, drafting players, calling plays, consuming and creating content, engaging with partners, recruiting fans to their team and more.

The more FAN IQ you earn, the more you rack up badges and reach higher levels on the leaderboard. As you level-up, your voting power increases relative to other fans of your team, and your badges provide special powers and boosts during the weekly draft and games. 

FCF presents a unique opportunity for sports fans to actually get out what they put in, and truly make an impact for their team's success on the field.

The FCF is making fantasy football a reality.

Influential Team Owners Drive Awareness + Fandom

Rather than using the traditional model of sports teams being tied to a home city, the FCF has created unique brands for each team that align with the famous fans in their ownership group. 

From the smart and cunning Wild Aces, to the hard hitting Beasts, ultra cool Glacier Boyz and party animal Zappers - each team brings its own style that mirrors that of its owners.

FCF fans choose to join the squad they most identify with, creating die hard fandom with no geographic borders.

Famous Team Owners actively engage with their fans to determine their team’s unique strategy – from the team names and logos which were all fan submissions, to the players that get drafted and the type of offense they run.

Team Owners drive awareness of their team and the league by actively promoting on social, creating content around team and league votes, co-streaming their games on Twitch and participating in podcasts, interviews and more.

Team Ownership Groups were formed by pairing influential celebrities with big name NFL players. Combined, we tap into a social-influencer base reaching more than 100 million followers. 

Backed by A-list VCs, Hall of Fame QBs, and the cofounders of BleacherReport and Reddit

FCF closed a Seed round in June 2020 led by Lightspeed Venture Parters with participation from Verizon Ventures, Talis Capital, Correlation Ventures, Next10 Ventures, and Basecamp Fund. 

Other notable equity owners include: 

• Twitch - owned by Amazon
• Joe Montana - NFL Hall of Fame QB
• Alexis Ohanian - cofounder and former CEO of Reddit
• Dave Finocchio - cofounder and former CEO of BleacherReport
• Ferran Soriano - CEO of the Premier League's Manchester City F.C. and Major League Soccer's New York City F.C.
• Victor Font - CEO of Delta Partners and one of the leading candidates to be President of FC Barcelona
• Mark Tluszcz - cofounder & CEO of Mangrove Capital and Chairman of Wix.com

Our vision from day one was to put fans into the game like never before, and that includes the owner's box. We're blessed to be backed by some of the best investors on the plant, but at the end of the day FCF doesn't work without you, the fans. Join us!

Major strategic partners include Twitch and Verizon

Our vision and execution thus far has attracted key strategic partners for the inaugural season.

Big brand sponsors include Progressive Insurance, Champion, and IBM

FCF has secured multiple six-figure sponsorship deals for it's first season. These brands are looking for an authentic way to get in front of the highly coveted Male 18-34 audience that makes up the majority of the FCF fanbase. And FCF's mix of real pro football that plays like a video game for fans is something sponsors are very eager to attach their brand to.

A world-class broadcast from the FCF studio arena

Our unique venue is designed to create the cutting edge viewing experience that streaming audiences demand.

• All games are streamed live on Twitch from our football soundstage at the Infinite Energy Arena in Atlanta, GA
• Full control of the venue and set design akin to a motion picture production so as to maximize the digital experience
• Dramatically reduced overhead with only one lease and shared services and personnel across the entire league
• No travel - all players and coaches live in one location and are shuttled between hotel and venue maintaining a virus-free bubble
• Players and staff are sequestered in the venue and nearby housing for the duration of the season

A streamlined cost model, a dynamic revenue model, and an entirely new approach to the business of sports

FCF's business model is revolutionary when compared to traditional leagues. 

Instead of playing in multiple venues across the country, which creates the need to replicate coaching and front office staffs in each market and imposes significant travel costs, the FCF uses a unified model of shared costs and services to ensure a far lower operational cost that other alternative football leagues. This creates a best in class cost model that will drive profitability early in the life cycle of the company. 

FCF's approach enables multiple revenue streams - traditional sources including sponsorship, live game rights and merchandise alongside more modern digital monetization.

On the digital front, FCF employs a "freemium" video game revenue model whereby it is entirely free for fans to join and participate, with in-app micro transactions built into the virtual economy of Fan IQ. Additionally, through Twitch, FCF offers content-focused digital subscriptions to enable die hard fans with premium access inside the locker room and onto the practice fields.

FCF is positioned at the intersection of two booming industries - traditional sports and esports - providing a vast market opportunity

Sports in the United States alone is a $75B industry, and football is king. Average franchise values in the NFL topped $3B in 2020 and show no signs of stopping.

According to NewZoo, esports total audience and revenue is forecasted to rise significantly over the next several years. Perhaps even more exciting, esports is projected to have more viewers than every pro sports league but the NFL in 2021. FCF is perfect positioned to take advantage of these trends

FCF is pioneering an entirely new category of interactive, fan-controlled pro sports

We have a chance to shape the future of sports, one where fan participation is just as important as the participation of the athletes on the field. We've been working since 2015 to make this dream a reality, and we have first mover advantage in a category we get to define. We also secured a patent for real-time play calling to help us "build a moat" to protect what we're creating. 

A vision this bold needs some early validation

Which is why we decided to purchase a new franchise in the Indoor Football League to test our fan-controlled ideas. We owned and operated the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles during the 2017 IFL season, and after 16 games we left with some tremendous results. 

Our lead investor, Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners, said "This is the most elaborate “proof of concept” that we’ve ever seen!" 

Read his blog post on Medium to see why.

FCF is lead by a world-class team of seasoned entrepreneurs and industry vets

Our founding team at FCF has multiple venture backed successful exits under their belt, and some experience playing in the NFL too (only one of us can say that!). Our exec team is comprised of an incredible balance of big league (NFL, NBA, MLB) executives, other sports property executives (AFL, IFL, USA Water Polo, ABA), and true startup founders and execs that know how to get it done in the early stages of a business. We are built to win now, and in the future.