Detroit City Football Club is tapping into some "Raw Power" to garner support for their latest play: to raise $1.2 million by selling club stock to the public.
After going pro last year, DCFC has since endured a major blow due to COVID-19, which has prevented the team from being able to host in-person games for the unforeseeable future. This has cost the team an estimated $100,000 per home game, Crain's Detroit reports. DCFC co-owner Sean Mann told Crain's that it's possible that in-person games may not resume until 2022, and the organization needs to start planning its financial future should that be the case.
To survive the financial devastation of the pandemic, the once-scrappy club has made the decision to sell some of its stock to the public — $1.2 million worth. A rival team, Chattanooga FC, raised $850,000 last year after launching a similar fundraising effort. DCFC's campaign, however, is poised to be "the largest public fundraising campaign in American soccer."
Now, those who wish to invest would classify as Class B investors, so you wouldn't have any control of the company, nor would you have any voting rights. DCFC, even after selling 10% in common stock, will remain majority-owned by the club's five co-owners. The community can make investments on a sliding scale, starting at $125 all the way to $50,000, and those who have season tickets will have the opportunity to recycle ticket costs towards an investment or can transfer 2020 tickets to 2021. Refunds are also available.
Perhaps the most high profile investor DCFC has at the moment just so happens to be the face, er, the voice of the campaign: Detroit native Iggy Pop.
As part of a multi-media advertisement package by Detroit-based agency Lafayette American, the rock star was tapped to lend his gravelly voice to a 45-second video, which includes footage of the once raucous stadium filled with fans, colored smoke bombs, flags, and drums.
"We are City until we die. Now it's time to own up," he says.
The club's fundraising platform, Wefunder, has some fine print that stipulates that someone must be selected to represent the campaign, but that person must also be an investor. According to Crain's, Pop's investment was a small one and he's not, like, a mascot, nor does he have an active role in the company.
Watch the clip below.
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