Franchise League Company
Fans are in charge of nearly every aspect of the Fan Controlled Football League’s operations — from calling plays to designing both the logo and the football itself.
Dedication to that model was confirmed for league CEO Sohrob Farudi and his team when they tested an initial version of the league in 2017 after buying the Indoor Football League’s Salt Lake Screaming Eagles. In addition to play calling, fans helped design the logo and hire the coach and players through an app. What came as a surprise was the amount of international involvement the team had, with more than 95 percent of the engaged users coming from outside of Utah.
That data solidified FCFL’s idea of centralizing its operations and focusing on the digital user and experience, which can now be seen in the latest iteration of the league set to begin this May.
Eight teams, including the Screaming Eagles, will compete in the FCFL and will share the same facility in Las Vegas. Instead of playing in a stadium or arena, teams will play 7-on-7 in a high-end production studio on a 50-yard field, intended to create a strong digital product for fans.
The FCFL last April partnered with New Alchemy, a Seattle-based blockchain consulting group, to implement a first-of-its-kind blockchain token system through which fans make decisions for their team.
“We wanted to create a platform where fans can trust what they ask for and what they vote for is what they get. For us, that is super important, otherwise you lose that trust from the fans,” Farudi said.
The FCFL also partnered with Twitch on a multiyear streaming deal after broadcasting its final two games of the 2017 season on the platform to great success. IMG handles live game content for the league, which expects to announce soon a partnership with a Las Vegas casino operator.
But Farudi points to an upcoming sponsorship with Wilson to be the official ball of the FCFL as a deal that gives a sense of how the league is different in terms of positioning itself.
“This season, fans are going to get to vote on the design of the ball in terms of what they want that ball to be,” he said. “But what’s interesting is that next season, we’re going to choose through a couple of different contests and promotions a couple of fans to actually have a chance to work with Wilson’s R&D department and actually design the ball for that season. They really get to go behind the scenes and be an active part with Wilson’s design and development team. Those are the types of things that we are continually setting up — our goal is to get fans engaged not only in the game itself, but also all the things around the game too.”
