Watford are putting 10 per cent of the club up for sale to the public and hope to raise £17.5 million ($22.2m) to bolster revenue.
Watford — owned by Italian Gino Pozzo since 2012 — have been seeking investment for the last few years.
The offering values the club overall at £175m ($223m) and comes in the form of digital equity.
The capital raise with new shares, which the club say will partly be used to strengthen the playing squad, will see shares available at just over £12 ($15). Watford have partnered with United States investment firm Republic to facilitate the sale in that region, with Seedrs — Republic’s European platform — focused on interest in that continent.
European investors will have to take a minimum of four shares at just under £50 ($64) with those based in the U.S. required to take at least eight at approximately £100 ($127). Pre-registration starts today (Tuesday, June 4) with the deal going public on Thursday, June 6. Shares will be available to buy in both crypto and traditional currency but can only be traded after a 12-month holding period.
Watford were relegated from the Premier League in 2021-22 and will see parachute payments — given to clubs following relegation from England’s top-flight — end this summer. The Championship club did, though posted a £24.1m ($30m) profit in their last accounts.
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“In common with many other clubs, we have been exploring opportunities to bring investment into the club to grow the club further and bolster revenue streams which, in turn, allow us to strengthen the playing squads,” Watford said in a letter to fans.
While the club is open to investors who may want to take a larger stake — as outlined by last month’s link with heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua — they believe that this will lead to a broader range of opportunities.
“Having looked at a number of options, we have decided to take the exciting and innovative step of becoming the first major English club to offer true ownership through digital equity,” the letter added. “Digital equity is an easy and practical way to access shares in the club.”
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Shareholders in the new initiative will have the chance to tokenise their investment, which the club says will give them access to exclusive benefits and will eventually be tradable. The benefits are set to include access to special ‘owners’ meetings, select stadium areas and match day experiences. Investors won’t receive voting rights, but they will be entitled to discretionary dividend payments, subject to the financial performance of the club.
Watford say the £175m ($223m) figure is a “fair valuation” and have based their calculations on clubs of a comparable size: Ipswich Town have an approximate pre-promotion valuation of £262m ($334m), compared to Brentford (£450m, $575m) and Crystal Palace (£485m, $619m).
While the target for Watford is getting back to the Premier League, the valuation is also helped by a 50 per cent uptick in TV revenue from the start of the 2025-26 season due to the EFL’s new broadcasting and marketing deal with Sky Sports worth over £930m ($1.1billion).
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“Part of the funding will be channelled into recruitment to strengthen Tom Cleverley’s playing squad as we seek a return to the Premier League,” said the club. “We believe this project can form a key strand of football future finance, where investors and supporters alike can enjoy the fruits of the club’s future success.”
Republic has previously worked with smaller British clubs on various projects, like AFC Wimbledon of League Two and non-league sides South Shields, Altrincham and Dorking. Watford have reviewed the outcome of the initiatives — which have raised a combined £8m ($10.2m) — and feel doing the same will be a successful initiative.
(Alex Morton/Getty Images)
