Fantex on Monday began "offering reservations for 835,000 shares of stock" in Bears WR Alshon Jeffery’s career, and in exchange for 13% of the his future earnings both on and off the field, Fantex will pay Jeffery $7.94M, "assuming it raises enough financing from the IPO," according to Patrick Finley of the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. At $10 per share, fans "can sign up" for the company’s IPO, its fourth deal with an NFL player. Fantex has already has deals with 49ers TE Vernon Davis, Bills QB E.J. Manuel and Bengals WR Mohamed Sanu. Bears TE Martellus Bennett said that he had talked to Fantex in the past before "deciding against it." Fantex co-Founder & CEO Buck French said that the registration process with the SEC for Jeffery will "last another 10 or 12 weeks," at which point reservations "would turn into orders." Documents filed by Fantex with the SEC estimate that Jeffery will "renegotiate his contract prior to the start of next season," when he is slated to make about $1.7M, and sign a six-year deal estimated at $79.4M. They also "estimate he’ll have an 11-year playing career." French said, “We believe he’ll be signing a pretty significant contract in the next year." The documents show that Jeffery's endorsement deals with Topps, Jewelry Warehouse, Bose, Panini, EA and Sideline Marketing "will pay him around $113,440 through the end of next season" (
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/22).
