The professional English football team Watford Football Club, commonly known as Watford FC, is initiating a digital equity sale comprising approximately 10% of its shares.

The nearly 150-year-old British football team has partnered with digital investment platform Republic to facilitate the equity sale, which will be available on the platform and on Seedrs, Republic’s European platform.

According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the capital will be used to fund the team’s training initiatives, particularly in the men’s first team, as well as for new players’ recruitment, coaching, and development of the Watford FC brand.

Through the digital equities offering with Republic, Watford FC aims to attract a wider range of investors and allows fans to own a piece of the football club.

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Watford FC plans fan token trading in the future

Investors will be able to purchase digital equity shares in the football club, tokens and exclusive offers.

The fan tokens received by investors will become tradable in the future and offer “true ownership” to fans, according to Scott Duxbury, the chairman and CEO of Watford FC. He said:

“We are always looking at ways that we can help grow Watford FC to deliver on our plans and are proud to be the first major English football club to offer true ownership shares to a wide range of investors, including fans, through digital equity.”

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Tokenized shares and digital assets: A new way to grow fan engagement in sports?

Increasingly more sports clubs are using digital assets like tokenized shares of equity or nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to raise more user engagement and capital.

At the end of May, Football star Cristiano Ronaldo released his fourth NFT collection in partnership with Binance exchange, featuring highlights from his sporting career.

At the end of April, Manchester City released limited-edition jerseys tied to rare NFTs that allow holders to win a limited number of unique jerseys and matchday experiences. The NFT collection was launched in partnership with OKX.

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