Feyenoord lets wealthy fans invest in talent

Rotterdam football club Feyenoord has been financing the purchase of new players by offering devoted supporters a stake in the club’s fortunes, the Volkskrant reports on Friday.


Trucking company owner Jos Kaalen, for example, has put €250,000 into a certificate which gives him a share on the club’s earnings generated by six new young players.
Certificate holders have no say over what happens to the players in their pool. Royston Drenthe, who falls into Kaalen’s pool, is being wooed by top UK and Spanish clubs. ‘The investors want him to stay with us,’ Feyenoord commercial director Chris Woerts tells the paper.
But should Drenthe or any of the other players be transferred, Kaalen will also get part of the transfer fee. ‘I am involved with this for emotional reasons, not trade,’ says Kaalen.
The first batch of 24 certificates sold out quickly, the paper says, and a second batch is now being issued. In total Feyenoord, which had a troubled last season, has raised almost €11m to buy new talent.

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