A blockchain company and a football fan group are teaming up to buy a team. Hull City Football Club, currently owned by Egyptian businessman Assem Allam, may see new ownership with SportyCo working alongside the Hull City Supporters Trust to make an offer of £45 million ($58.76 million) for the club.

According to the Hull Daily Mail, the deal will see institutional investors from the USA and UK bidding for the club through SportyCo. Alongside this, Hull City fans will also be contributing to the investment funds needed to make the bid. How much money these two groups will be contributing is unclear.

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“We are 100% sure,” said Geoff Bielby, Chairman of the Hull City Supporters Trust, “that this new and unique approach of combining institutional investors and the fan base will enable us both to achieve our goals, a successful and stable Hull City AFC that will be a joy to watch play.”

Hull City and The Blockchain Boom

Many of our readers may be scratching their heads, wondering what it is that SportyCo even does. Well, dear Finance Magnates fan, I shall explain all.

Piggy-backing on the blockchain boom, SportyCo acts as a crowdfunding website for sports teams and players. For instance, earlier this year, the company helped set up a cryptocurrency for Brazilian football team Avai.

The purpose of that cryptocurrency launch was to raise $20 million for the club. Whether or not that was achieved remains unclear. For fans, the motivation to buy a club’s cryptocurrency is stronger as it enables them – hypothetically – to have more of a say in what their club is doing.

As we don’t know how much the Hull City Supporters Trust is putting forward, it’s difficult to say how much of a stake they will own and, as a corollary of that, how much influence they will have in the club’s operations.