The Winklevoss twins are investing in the “ultimate underdog story.” The twins just finalized a deal that gives them part-ownership of a semi-professional football club that wants to compete in the Premier League.
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss became part-owners of Real Bedford Football Club when their $4.5 million investment was finalized this week. The deal had been announced by the club in April, but the terms were only completed this week.
The brothers are partnering with Real Bedford’s majority owner and Chairman Peter McCormack, a Bedford resident and cryptocurrency podcaster who bought the football club in 2021.
“Cameron, Tyler, and Peter all share a deep conviction in bitcoin and its ability to help supercharge RBFC’s quest to make it into the Premier League. Tyler and Cameron also understand first-hand the transformative power of sport,” the club said when it announced the deal.
The twins will each have a seat on the football club’s board of directors following their investment, which was made though Winklevoss Capital.
McCormack has already begun the process of rising through the leagues after winning back-to-back promotions in the last two years. The club now competes in the eighth tier of the English league system.
Real Bedford is aiming to emulate the achievements of Wrexham AFC, which was purchased by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2020. The Welsh club has already been promoted from being a non-league side to the third tier of the English football pyramid. Wrexham’s Hollywood-star owners are also aiming to bring their club to Premier League.
The Winklevoss brothers are best known for accusing Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea for a social network while they were classmates at Harvard University. Their dispute was later dramatized in the film The Social Network.
They used some of their $65 million legal settlement with the CEO of Facebook to start stockpiling Bitcoin in 2012. They cofounded the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini in 2014. Gemini has been a sponsor of Real Bedford since 2022.
Their deal to become part-owners in a football team adds to a wave of U.S. investment across English football, with almost a third of clubs now owned by Americans.
Half of the Premier League’s 20 clubs have been acquired by U.S. investors. Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Crystal Palace, Ipswich, Liverpool and Manchester United are majority owned by Americans.
As new investment has flowed into the Premier League over the past two decades from the U.S., the Middle East and elsewhere, club valuations have soared. The brand power of the league’s top clubs can’t be replicated, which gives them the potential to continue growing globally.
U.S. billionaire Dan Friedkin was the latest to join the top flight of English football with his acquisition of Everton Football Club in December. Although the size of the deal was undisclosed, local media said the club was valued at more than £400 million ($500 million).
Friedkin edged out fellow American John Textor to complete the purchase of the storied English club, which has been battling relegation in recent years. Textor is already an investor in Crystal Palace.
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