A popular Portuguese football club by the name of Sporting Clube de Portugal (SCP) recently announced that they are considering launching their own initial coin offering (ICO) as an alternative means to raised funds during a time where they are struggling to raise funds through traditional bonds.

According to a local news publication, Francisco Salgado Zenha, the club’s vice-president stated that the club is currently weighing up options and launching an ICO is their main consideration, although he also states that there is “nothing concrete” on the matter.

“We are looking closely at an ICO. We’re having meetings about it. There is a great value potential in the Sporting brand.” said Zenha.

The club manager also emphasized that SCP’s goal would be to “take advantage of this new world,” in reference to the world of cryptocurrencies. This consideration comes in light of the club completing a bond issue in which they are offering potential investors a hefty 5.25% gross annual interest rate in order to raise around €30 million ($34.2 million).

SCP is currently in need of the funds in order to repay investors for a previous bond issue which is maturing in three days on the 26th November and while club management managed to increase subscription orders after being aided by staff in order to promote the issue, they only ended up raising €26 million ($29.6 million) but fell short of their target.

As we’ve reported on other European clubs in the past, clubs often utilise cryptocurrencies so that fans can use them in order to purchase products and services at discounted rates, but SCP is yet to reveal what their plans are for their ICO. Portugals Securities Market Commission (CMVM) ask requested that any organizations seeking to deploy ICO’s to clarify “prior to any emission, the judicial nature of the tokens being issued.”

Portugal’s regulator’s stance has definitely shifted positively towards this, as last year they were keeping a watchful eye on what they deemed the “bitcoin euphoria” which was sweeping through the nation by keeping a close eye on any investment banks and brokerage firms who offered crypto related products.

SCP went on to reveal that if they fail to raise the necessary funds they need by any means, be it bond issues or by ICOs, their “strategic decisions” might be in danger and worst case scenario, they might have to sell players.

As we already know, SCP is not the first football with plans to launch their own token by way of ICO. Brazilian football club Avai has toyed with the idea of launching their own ICO in order to raise $20 million, mere days after CoinBeat reported that French football giant Paris Saint-Germain announced their own token.

On the English side, two clubs that are cash-strapped, being Newcastle & Cardiff City recently revealed their plans with SportyCo which is a decentralized sports investment & funding platform, to potentially roll out their own tokens with SportyCo being behind club Avai’s launch.

Could ICOs potentially become the popular choice of football clubs who are seeking to raise funds? Let us know your thoughts.

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