NFT has been gaining a lot of attention in the football world. The hype of NFT has also reached Liga MX outfit Club Necaxa. According to co-owner Al Tylis, more than 400 persons from at least 11 countries have expressed interest in buying an NFT from Necaxa that includes a 1% ownership stake in the Liga MX team.
The team revised its sale procedure and emailed stakeholders last week. Instead of holding an auction on the NFT marketplace OpenSea, Necaxa is asking for the best and final sealed bids by June 17. The minimum bid is $1.3 million, and the winner will receive ownership perks (although no voting rights) as well as the freedom to sell their share to anyone who meets a set of criteria. According to the club, a bid has been already received that is more than the minimum bid.
Following Necaxa’s announcement, the Mexican Football Federation stated that any modifications to team control would need to be approved by the league until the club issued a statement last Friday confirming its intentions. While talking to Bloomberg, Tylis explained the complete auction process through NFT.
“The NFT’s website drew 50,000 visits and three offers to pre-empt next week’s auction. This is a new asset class, where we are creating the first of its kind. And if I’m right and there will be other sports teams [which create] assets that have NFTs, I believe that [this stake], which is the first of its kind ever, will have real, tangible, long-term value.”
Tylis co-led a financial advisor that recently purchased 50% of Necaxa. He has also invested in club teams in the United States, Wales, and New Zealand. At the time, the club was priced in the low nine digits. Celebrity investors included actress Eva Longoria, model Kate Upton, and players Mesut Ozil, Justin Verlander, Richard Hamilton, Victor Oladipo, and Bode Miller in the first large U.S. investment in a Liga MX team.
The football team in question is Liga MX’s Club Nexaca, which Mesut Ozil, a former Real Madrid and Arsenal star, owns in part. The club has won the CONCACAF Champions League thrice and is a three-time league champion.