WAGMI United: What is the manifesto of the new Crawley Town owners? What is the NFT? What improvements have they already made?

The American investment group, lead by Preston Johnson and Eben Smith, took over the club in April and have been ambitious and revolutionary in what they have done in that time.

We have a seen a third kit launched as an NFT, fans being given a say on signings and getting adidas on board as their kit manufacturer – the only current League Two club to do so.

And on their website they have spelt out what they plan to go with the club, what improvements they have already made, the NFT they are launching.

What are WAGMI United’s goals?

To reinvent broken legacy sports management models, to give fans a meaningful voice and to take Crawley Town FC, the smallest club in the English Football League, to the Premier League

Who are WAGMI United?

WAGMI, a new brand dedicated to bringing Web3’s most innovative ideas and passionate communities to the world of sports and the ‘powerful investment group’ includes:

- Gary Vaynerchuk a.k.a. Gary Vee — Chairman of VaynerX and influential tech and NFT thought leader

- Sean Gearin a.k.a. Gfunk — Founder and CEO of Pixel Vault, creators of PUNKS Comic and MetaHero Universe

- gmoney — Renowned NFT cultural influencer, educator and community leader

- Erick Calderon a.k.a Snowfro — Legendary NFT artist and founder/CEO of Art Blocks

- Jacob Martin — Founder of 2 Punks Capital and one of the premier legal minds in Web3

Influential creators and collectors in the NFT space — such as @hunterorrell, @tonyherrera and @andy8052.

And on their website they say: “

WAGMI United — which stands for “We’re All Gonna Make It” — exists at the intersection of crypto and sports. Our group is made up of some of the biggest names in the NFT and sports worlds: influencers, investors, business leaders, designers, lawyers, founders — everyone from dreamchasers to seasoned execs.

“Our first move was the acquisition of Crawley Town FC, an English Football League 2 club.

“Why football? Nothing compares to its immense cultural impact, unprecedented fan loyalty, and ability to bring people together. Football captures the hearts of the world in the most untraditional ways.

“A pillar of our vision is fandom without borders. We’ve seen firsthand the power of digital communities taking over the world through NFTs. We’re betting on a future where being a fan is no longer constrained by geographic location.

"While we want WAGMI to become ‘The Internet’s Team’, a supernode between digital communities, our model also enables local Crawley Town fans to have a voice: a drastic shift from the absentee leadership structures of the past.”

What have WAGMI United done to improve Crawley Town so far?

After taking over the club, the new owners had to deal with the John Yems situation which culminated in the former manager mutually agreeing to leave the club.

Since then they have been pro-active in improving the club.

This includes the appointment of Kevin Betsy as head coach and Dan Micciche as assistant coach, hired a video analyst, onboarded a top-tier strength and conditioning coach, a goalkeeper coach, a striker and set-piece specialist and a data scientist

They have got access to better data/analytics/tools/video with StatsBomb, Hudl, TransferRoom, Veo, drones, etc, acquired new medical and fitness equipment. They have also acquired Ice baths and more footballs.

Proper supplements and nutrition/meal plans have been implemented and a week of preseason training and teambuilding in Spain for 35 players and staff.

There has been the implementation of a ‘B’ squad for youth player development, decreased ticket prices by over 30% for fans having sold more season tickets in two weeks than all of last season and improved the food and catering services for fans on game days.

They have signed Dom Telford, League 2’s leading goal scorer last season, Dion Conroy, captain of a playoff club at Swindon last season and one of the highest rated defenders in League 2, brought in James Balagizi on loan from Liverpool, signed Travis Johnson, who had tremendous underlying metrics last year playing for a League 1 club and brought back fan-favorite Ashley Nadesan on a new deal.

They have hired a CFO, focused on building a new, inclusive team culture, partnered with adidas and CTFC kits mark the first time any sporting team has ever officially sported historically significant NFT art on a professional jersey.

What is the NFT?

WAGMI United says on it’s website: “As part of our investment in CTFC, we’re launching an NFT to enable the web3 community to join us. We want this to be a community club that gives fans with an internet connection a meaningful voice. To date, we have established the following utility, with more to come: Special input and voting on the future of Crawley Town FC; Adidas x WAGMI United x Chromie Squiggle jersey; Limited edition football scarf; Limited edition football hat; Holders choose design for the third item; Access to IRL events; Free tickets to some CTFC home matches (TBD); Exclusive access to behind the scenes at the club; AMA with players; Exclusive live streams from the bench during games; Access to global IRL events including "WAGMI Zone" get-togethers for games; ERC-721 commemorative token, after merch claims; Digital wearables And more, to be confirmed...

“Minters will receive an ERC-1155 NFT. At the merch claim event, this can be burnt in exchange for physical merchandise and another ERC-1155 NFT. At the final merch claim event, you can burn your ERC-1155 NFT, receiving your final piece of merch and an ERC-721 NFT.”

They add: “To be clear, ownership of the NFT does not give you direct ownership of Crawley Town FC. It does give you weighted input on big-picture club items. Again, we want this to be a community club that gives fans with an internet connection a meaningful voice.”

See more Crawley Town news here.