So as of last week, I am officially part owner in an English Football Club (soccer that is…not American Football). Thanks to the power of Wikinomics and crowdsourcing, I purchased a small share in Ebbsfleet United FC, which plays in the Blue Square Premier, with 28,300 of my “closest friends” through MyFootballClub. While I have played soccer all my life, I never really followed English soccer. However, the chance to own part of a professional sports club for only £35 was too tempting to resist. The whole concept of crowdsourcing is one that marketers need to pay close attention to. MyFootballClub is just the latest in series of business models that have cropped up where consumers are using the power of the crowd, partial ownership and technology to shake up business as usual. Just look at Prosper.com in lending or Threadless.com in t-shirts/apparel. This is one of those waves that once started doesnt show signs of stopping any time soon.
Now the only question is how I am going to find a way to see my team actually play a game. I don’t think ESPN carries too many Blue Square Premier games. Maybe I will need to look into fractional aircraft ownership over at NetJets and get myself a flight to
Tags: crowdsourcing, MyFootballClub, soccer, wikinomics
It’s great to see so many MyFootballClub members from abroad. Did you vote in the election for the board members? How do you feel that those elected are all in the UK?