Can Bitcoin Build a Football Club?

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0:00This is Real Bedford. Pronounced Reál - just like Real Madrid.

0:05But while Madrid, the world's most valuable team, built its empire on trophies.

0:09Real Bedford is trying to grow its footprint using Bitcoin.

0:17The non-league football club - soccer club to American audiences - is about two hours north of

0:23London. In 2022, it was bought by Bitcoin podcaster Pete McCormack.

0:28Pete wasn't just trying to build another local football club.

0:31He wanted to build one with a global audience.

0:34I'm from Bedford here, and we are the largest or second largest town in the country that's never

0:40had a football club in the football league. I was kind of looking at trying to figure out why,

0:44And so I kind of made us the rebel anarchist Bitcoin team.

0:47Crypto is broad label for digital assets built on blockchain networks. Bitcoin was

0:52the first and remains the largest by market value.

0:55I'm a Bitcoin maximus. It's the only cryptocurrency that matters. We

0:58wanted to be the anti-establishment football club, and so if you're anti-establishment,

1:02you care about things that the government can't interfere with. One of those is Bitcoin,

1:06and so we made that a central component of the club. Hence, when you look around the stadium,

1:11the sponsorship and advertising you'll see will be from Bitcoin companies.

1:14The idea soon attracted two of crypto’s best-known investors. In 2024, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss,

1:21the billionaire founders of crypto exchange Gemini, invested $4.5 million in Real Bedford.

1:28Gemini is now also one of the club's sponsors.

1:31But the ambition goes beyond sponsorship. McCormack wants Real Bedford to become a global

1:36Bitcoin community. The club estimates around a quarter of its core fanbase is based outside

1:41of Bedford. They make up an even larger audience online - around 40% and on some matchdays, that

1:48global community turns up in person, for what has become part football match, part Bitcoin meetup.

1:55My name is Martin, and I come from Slovakia. And this is my sixth time

1:58here in Real Bedford. I heard there is a Bitcoin club being built in

2:03Bedford. Bitcoin gave me a lot of freedom in my life, and I'm trying to give back.

2:08Are you more interested in the Bitcoin than the football? Where does your interest lie?

2:12No, I'm interested in both. I'm a Bitcoiner and I'm a football supporter.

2:16That is the business logic behind Real Bedford. Bitcoin has turned a local

2:20football club into something visible to supporters far beyond Bedford.

2:24But attracting a global community is one thing. Running the club day to

2:28day is another. That job belongs to Real Bedford CEO Emma Firman.

2:32Worked with Pete doing other things and then obviously he purchased the football club

2:36and then sort of said, 'can you help me run a football club?'.

2:38I was like, 'Pete I absolutely hate football, what you doing?' And here we are four seasons later.

2:43Firman now runs one of the most unusual football clubs in the country.

2:46Supporters can pay for tickets, food and merchandise using Bitcoin.

2:51Something that remains rare in football, even at higher levels of the game.

2:55But on a normal matchday, most still pay the usual way.

2:58If we just have like the normal fans in, they're normally cash or paying with card,

3:03but we do have the people that do want to pay by Bitcoin and we're more than happy to accommodate them.

3:08Less than 20% I'd say, on match days. It all depends on the type of event we've got.

3:13I've met people from all over the globe that have travelled in just because it's the Bitcoin team.

3:17Having the kind of Bitcoin thing if you like it just makes the club completely unique.

3:22Bitcoin also reaches parts of the club’s payroll.

3:25Some of our players get paid either full Bitcoin or part Bitcoin. Even people that we employ,

3:29I think people just intrigued, so they're the curious, and it's something a bit different.

3:33At first glance, it looks like Bitcoin is funding the football club.

3:37But the reality is more complicated.

3:40Obviously, Bitcoin's price is fairly volatile as an asset class. Do you

3:45think that that's a risk to the business model for the football club?

3:48I mean that volatility's everywhere now.

3:50There's volatility in our own currency.

3:51I think Bitcoin is just another volatile part of a volatile world.

3:55And as someone who owns a lower league football club,

3:57do you think that is a sustainable way to fund the club, through Bitcoin then?

4:02Well, we don't fund the club through Bitcoin. We fund the club through sponsorships,

4:07ticket sales, people spending money here when they come here, merchandise.

4:10So you're not having to put any more money beyond the original purchase?

4:14Well, we raised $4.5 million, £3.6 million from Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss, and so that

4:21sits within our treasury. Yes, we dip into that over the season to support the club.

4:25This is an investment. Think of it like a startup. You raise money with a target.

4:30And what's the target? Well, it's for promotions. And so, as a startup, all you're

4:34trying to do with startups is move quicker than your capital base allows you to. That's why you

4:38take investment, and we will take more rounds of investment as we look to grow this club.

4:42But not everyone is convinced the model can succeed.

4:45You've done a podcast with Pete McCormack,

4:47what do you think of the project that he's building over at Real Bedford?

4:50I think it's intriguing. I think he's trying to ride two horses at the same time.

4:56You know, Pete will say that he's not a crypto fan, he's a Bitcoin fan,

5:00and he's very much at pains to say that they are completely

5:04independent. As far as the football club is concerned, here I'm a bit more skeptical.

5:11If we take a look at what happened with Crawley Town, for example, they were acquired by two

5:17American evangelical supporters of crypto. Their controlling company was

5:22called Wagmi United, and Wagmi stands for We're All Going to Make It. Well, they didn't make it.

5:28The project brought attention, NFTs and global ambition — but also a chaotic first season,

5:34with the club fighting to avoid dropping into a lower league.

5:37The initial curiosity factor towards that, that dissipated very quickly,

5:43because people are saying, 'well, you know, we're more interested in what's happening on the pitch.'

5:48Crawley eventually won promotion to League One — moving up to the third tier of English

5:53football. But the lesson was still clear: digital hype can open doors and attract

5:58attention. It cannot replace results, local trust or a sustainable football operation.

6:04It's been tough. We get all called all different kind of names. I think we've earned our place,

6:09so I think we're a bit more accepted this year than we have probably in previous seasons.

6:13What does success look like for the club and for you? Is it promotion? Is

6:17it sustainability? Or is it to grow the awareness of Bitcoin?

6:22It's certainly not the latter. For me, success is we get to a level, the football league,

6:27whereby we can build a new stadium, we can build an academy, and we can develop

6:31high quality players in this town, both for our for our boys and girls. That's success for me.

6:36You have to go through some kind of ordeal in football. As Bitcoin investors and enthusiasts,

6:42we also have to go through that ordeal simultaneously. But myself,

6:48I'm here for the long ride. It's great fun.

6:51Real Bedford may never become the next Manchester United. But its experiment

6:55is testing a bigger idea: whether a small local club can use a global digital community

7:00to attract the kind of capital, sponsors and attention that would normally be out of reach.

7:06If it works, Bitcoin will not just have sponsored a football club. It will have helped build one.