Company Called Fantex Now Lets You Buy Stock In Arian Foster And Other Professional Athletes

(Source) For years, private investors have quietly backed up-and-coming boxers, tennis players, horses and golfers, but now the public is getting a chance to really own a piece of an athlete. On Thursday, Fantex Brokerage Services announced its intention to allow fans to invest in stock related to the performance of an athlete’s brand.Fantex Brokerage Services is paying Texans running back Arian Foster $10 million for a 20 percent stake in his future income, including contracts, endorsements and other related business revenue.

The company said its initial public offering will be for Houston Texans running back Arian Foster. Fantex is paying Foster $10 million for a 20 percent stake in his future income, including contracts, endorsements and other related business revenue. The company will begin taking reservations in the next two weeks and could be selling shares of Foster in as soon as a month depending on demand and progress with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s much like fantasy sports, except fans will be trading on Foster’s business value. If he does well on the field and companies become more interested in Foster as an endorser, his stock might go up. Fans can then buy and sell shares, with Fantex taking a commission. The company says it is hoping to acquire a future stake in athletes but does not have any other deals finalized at this time.

“Fantex is bringing sports and business together in a way never previously thought possible,” CEO Buck French said in a statement. “By building a marketplace that allows customers to buy shares in a tracking stock linked to the value and performance of an athlete’s brand, Fantex is enabling a new level of brand advocacy through ownership.” French told ESPN.com that the company would collect 20 percent of what Foster makes going forward, including money made from the five-year contract with the Texans he signed last season that guaranteed him $20.7 million. Foster also will make money on his endorsement deals with Under Armour and Fuse Science, and he recently acquired a stake in chia bar company Health Warrior.

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This is a pretty cool thing. To own a piece of Arian Foster? That’s awesome. Totally innovative. Just a bunch of rich white guys owning strong, athletic black people. Buying and trading and selling them depending on their physical health and production to our bottom line. I don’t know where this idea initially came from but I LOVE it.

My only question though is can we extend it to every part of life. Can we start offering stock in your friends and family members? Can you short stock? Like could you theoretically short your grandparents because they’re old as fuck? Or your one friend that can’t seem to figure life out and is still unemployed? Or can we even start putting stocks on bloggers. That would be pretty wild. Putting a price on all of us and watching us go up and down depending on how hungover or lazy we are on a given day. I like this idea but it needs to be expanded. Buy everyone and everything. The world is for sale. I want stocks on anything that walks, talks, or breaths.

PS

I would for sure lose all my money in 2 seconds buying as many baby animals as I could afford.