You can own part of this Metro Vancouver soccer team for less than $300
The TSS Rovers are set to become the first ever Canadian soccer club to turn its supporters into owners.
The Rovers, who play out of Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, are offering up almost half of its ownership stake to fans in a first-of-its kind partnership to help grassroots soccer grow in British Columbia.
Have you ever wanted to own a football club?
Today’s your lucky day! Canada’s first ever supporter owned soccer club is now live.
A real share. A real voice. A club you can call your own.
Be a part of the Canadian soccer dream.https://t.co/c8Z5pVsesM#TogetherStandingStrong pic.twitter.com/l3p2O9q0ZM
— TSS Rovers Football Club (@TSSRovers) January 18, 2022
“We’ve always been aspiring to build what’s necessary with our own money, and we really think that there’s an opportunity here to grow something important,” said TSS Rovers General Manager Will Cromack in an introductory video on the team’s crowdfunding page.
“So we decided to sell a big portion of the club to our supporters…those that care about us, those that want to be involved, those that want to be involved in grassroots soccer and the growth of the Canadian player, we are selling 49% of the Rovers’ men and women’s League1 team to the supporters.
“Buy a share, get involved. Your voice will be heard, and this will be your club.”
League1 BC, established in 2021, is an adult open age Pro-Am Soccer League operated by BC Soccer “intended to bridge the gap between youth and professional soccer,” according to its website.
The Rovers have reached 24% of their goal of $300,000, with 97 investors contributing $71,550 as of Wednesday afternoon. The campaign, found on FrontFundr — a leading equity crowdfunding platform in Canada — has a closing minimum of $150,000 and a minimum investment of $265 for a single share, with options for investment up to $2,650 for 10 shares.
“In 1986, we had 16 players from British Columbia on our men’s World Cup team that played in Mexico, and currently we have zero,” Colin Elmes, co-owner of TSS Football Club, said in the video.
“And so our job is to make sure that number over the next little while grows, and the reality is the system has done a really poor job of catering to 18-to-23-year-old players over the many decades, and Rovers and League1 is the mechanism I think that’s going to help to solve that problem.”
Investment highlights include the organization’s player/coach development period, development of a future training facility/stadium, and the opportunity to “get involved on the ground floor as the Canadian soccer market takes off on the back of the women’s national team Olympic gold, a resurgent men’s national team, a newly formed professional league, and with Canada hosting the World Cup in 2026,” according to the pitch.
The opportunity for investment closes March 9, 2022.
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