Forget fantasy sports!
A new San Francisco company is hoping to offer sports fans the chance to score big profits by owning a piece of a professional athlete — well, sort of.
Fantex Inc. expects in the next four to six weeks to have a $10.5 million initial public offering of NFL star running back Arian Foster — which would represent about 20 percent of a holding company that owns the rights to the player’s income stream.
The shares wouldn’t be listed on any exchange and would be available only through Fantex’s broker-dealer Fantex Brokerage Securities.
But, hey, if you’ve ever wanted to own a piece of the Houston Texan running back, this may be your best shot, Buck French, Fantex’s founder, told The Post.
Fantex filed paperwork Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The goal is to focus on athletes first across the primary sports, and after that, we’ll star working on the entertainment side,” French explained.
Foster will give up 20 percent of his “future brand” income in perpetuity and will pocket $10 million of the $10.5 million raised in the IPO, according to the Fantex deal.
That pegs Texans’ 27-year-old fourth-year undrafted free agent at $50 million in Fantex dollars.
Fantex, which will serve as a sort of brand manager for athletes, collects their share of his earnings stream even if he retires and goes on to become a broadcaster covering NFL games, French explains.
It may be a steep price for some athletes, but for some like Foster, this may be the best thing next to having your own personal marketing firm.
“At the end of the day, [Foster] believes specifically that what we are doing for his brand will help him grow his brand greater than he would otherwise be able to do,” French said.
Fantex does not have any specific arrangements with the NFL, and so it’s unclear if it will face hurdles branding athletes due to league rules.
If Foster’s stock rises, investors could be looking at a big windfall.
To be sure, however, investing in the brand of NFL athletes comes with huge risks, including the possibility that they could get ensnared in problems from accusations of sexual assault to outright murder raps, like, say, former New England Patriots’ tight end Aaron Hernandez.
French acknowledges the risk (as does his paperwork with the SEC ) but claims that he plans on vetting his talent in order to avoid headaches.
“Those are the risk factors. . . but the goal is to work with other high-profile individuals who we believe have the brand attributes that we could work with,” French said.
He declined to talk about which other entertainers or athletes the company might be working with.
Ideally, Fantex is looking for high-net worth investors to buy shares in offerings like Foster’s.
Otherwise, those with household incomes of between $50,000 to $100,000.
Investments are limited to $7,500.
“Fantex represents a powerful new opportunity for professional athletes, and I wish it were available during my playing days,” NFL great John Elway told the New York Times, which first reported the Fantex story.