Saturday, April 11, 2020

I Am A Pretty Big Deal

Here's a question for you to ponder (for a few seconds - I'm gonna answer it in the next paragraph): what do I have in common with Stan Kroenke, Bob Kraft, Malcolm Glazer, and Rocco Commisso?

The answer? Like those titans of American industry, as of today, I too own a stake in a European soccer club. I'm the proud holder of 100 shares in FC Pingzau Saalfelden (FCPS), known in its Austrian homeland as Pingzau. FCPS is in the third division of Austrian professional soccer, one of six teams in Regionalliga Salzburg competing for promotion to Austria's second division, 2. Liga.

Community ownership of sports clubs isn't a new phenomenon. Across the world, from teams as large and renowned as FC Barcelona and Real Madrid to local outfits like Congleton Town FC in Cheshire, England, supporters own stakes ranging from token to 100%. Here in the U.S., the Green Bay Packers have famously been owned by a community trust since 1923.

What makes Pingzau different is the ambition of the club's U.S.-based leadership team. CEO Mark Ciociola grew up in Wisconsin a fan of the Packers, so he knew about the community ownership model. Later, he became a season ticket holder of Real Salt Lake, immersing himself in soccer's supporter culture. When he looked around for an opportunity to invest in the game in the U.S. using a community-owned model, the price tag and MLS ownership rules proved a high barrier to entry.

So he went abroad.

Austria's first division, known as the Bundesliga, is the 11th-ranked league in Europe, and as such offers league members two entries into the Champions League and three into the Europa league. Compared to other similarly-situated countries like Turkey and Holland, the path from lower divisions into the Austrian Bundesliga is relatively easy. Not a cinch, by any means, but not a daunting gauntlet. So Ciociola and his partners, including Real Salt Lake's former head of marketing Trey Fitzgerald, chose the little alpine nation as their home.

My stadium is pretty damn picturesque
As Ciociola says, “We get to play in the same league as those teams spending hundreds of millions of Euros, and we can do it for much cheaper."

They also get to do it with a big name at the helm of the club. German international Christian Ziege became the club's head coach in Spring 2019. Ziege, who played for Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Liverpool, and Tottenham, in addition to earning 72 caps with Der Mannschaft, happened to be living in Saalfelden when the new owners took over the club, and his addition to the team is both a symbol of the ownership group's seriousness, and a media draw. As Fitzgerald says on the FCPS website, “Our single biggest recruiting tool, by far, is the sterling reputation of Christian Ziege. He is that DNA, that connective tissue.”

From the beginning, the Pingzau ownership's plan was to sell shares of the team to fans across the world. In particular, Ciociola and his partners hope to capitalize on the rapid growth of deeply invested soccer fans in the U.S. Pingzau's initial public offering is scheduled for April 24, but it's possible to get in now via the crowdfunded investment site Wefunder. The club is valued at $26.3m, so I'm holding a cool 0.000038% share. I also get two tickets in the owner's box in Saalfelden for a game of my choice each year, and a bitchin' pullover.

I'll get you tickets when we make the Champions League final (oh, yeah - it's "we", baby). And I'll try not to let my mogul status give me a big head.


28 comments:

  1. Gheorghe: The Blog Editorial Meeting planned for 4:30


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  2. Sorry I missed the Zoom. We were social distancing with some friends on our front patio and Zooming with another couple. Next time my friends.

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  3. it's over? i was getting beat by my kids at scrabble.

    i am going to to try to organize an online poker game-- really cheap, $5 buy in-- anyone interested? what night should I shoot for?

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  4. alert! guy fieri at tortuga’s lie!

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  5. isn't that an old episode?

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  6. yes, dave. but it’s still fun to see that painting of the old women in bathing suits on television.

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  7. Smoked prime rib tonight. Lots of leftovers for prime rib sandwiches in the next day or so. My wife and kid made homemade pasta today for tomorrow’s dinner. Can’t imagine living in a house where nobody really cooks during this time.

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  8. The cooking has gotten a bit old. I’ll do 3 lbs of ham tmrw, but the supermarket was out of canned pineapple rings. All they had was chunk pieces. So I get to use about 20 toothpicks w/ those into the ham.

    One trick I learned was with bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. I usually never cook them w/o brining first. But I put them in a plastic bag individually and whacked the shit out of them w/ a cast-iron skillet. It broke down the bones and flattened them. I then seared both sides in that skillet w/ butter and olive oil before baking in that skillet for 25 mins. Nice way to crisp that skin and avoid drying out the white meat.

    We’ve been cranking the veggie steamer. Broccoli, asparagus and zucchini.

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  9. Enjoyed the Zoom chat yesterday despite the brevity. Z and I met for the first time, very exciting indeed. Let’s shoot for another soon.

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  10. Happy Easter, gents. Sorry I missed the cyber-soirée y/day. We were dying Easter eggs. We died 18, I like eggs, and I hate to waste good these days. We went through five for bkfst, but I’m not sure I can knock them all out in the next 2-3 days. I guess I’ll try making deviled eggs.

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  11. Deviled eggs are my shit. Great with beer. Happy Easter. The Easter bunny is social distancing from my house so no eggs or peeps.

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  12. Meeting Danimal makes this pandemic worthwhile.

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  13. Just smoked some deviled eggs...made a few different versions. Love me some of the spicy'ns.
    Wife has a little herb garden on our lanai, aka back porch....fresh chives.

    Right Z? Ditto. Can't wait to see what next week's porn stache looks like.

    Lastly, can we all agree the pandemic raises the standard for alcoholism?

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  14. Also, the re-airing of last year's Masters on today....if anyone has not seen, it should be required viewing.

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  15. Smoked deviled eggs sound brilliant.

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  16. I need a smoke deviled eggs recipe. The Green Egg is earning its price these days.

    And, yes Danimal, alcoholism has a different standard these days.

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  17. I am drinking quite a bit these days, but finding some balance w/ being active. I’ll come out of this 5 lbs heavier, but fuck it. I have been big into my bourbon and sugar free gingers these days.

    Danimal - pls share your smoked deviled egg recipe here.

    I want to buy a Traeger.

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  18. I ad lib it...a few different concoctions today
    1...smoke the smashed yolks and whites for about 20 min....low 200
    2... mayo, Dijon, Wickles pickle relish, little cayenne, little hot sauce, salt n peppuh. (Mark...you can get wickles at Publix...they make really good pickle chips and relish, it has kick)
    Go ez on mayo and relish until you have the consistency you prefer. Top off w dash of paprika and jalapeño
    3. Mix it all up, fill up the eggs, refrigerate and try not to eat them all 2 hrs before dinner

    Another version was sans relish, but w fresh chives from the mrs’ herb garden, and yellow mustard.

    Bacon is a great ingredient for these (go figure) but whiffed, either as a topper or chopped finely and mixed in. If you don’t like any of the aforementioned, substitute accordingly.

    We also had a non smoked regular

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  19. I’m with ya on the Traeger...I’d like to supplement my egg with something.

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  20. I should add....you can also place eggs in the smoker....look up on YouTube but I believe 15-20 min at 250ish will get you a smoked “hard boiled” egg.

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  21. I bought a rack for baking bacon. Comes out better than frying in a pan. I know a guy who saves the drippings and works it into his homemade mayo. You should consider working some into your deviled eggs.

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  22. Great idea, and that is how we do our bacon here. It is better.

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  23. How does one smash yolks and whites before cooking/smoking them? And how is it different to smoke an egg in a shell, vs boiling it in water (which is 212 degrees, right)?

    Agreed that baking bacon is better. I short-cut it for my youngest kid b/c it’s quicker and he’s a hungry bastard in the morning.

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  24. worthy of a post...i deserve an incomplete
    i should have added, "but cooking to completion on the smoker (to me anyway) produced an overpowering flavor. didn't like it"

    i hardboiled eggs as ya do - cut in half, take out the yolk, mash it up in bowl, put in smoker. also, roughly half the whites in the smoker. was simply experimenting - mixing and matching smoked yolk with smoked whites, smoked yolk w/non-smoked whites, non-smoked yolks and smoked whites...much more subtle.

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  25. Sounds like I have some egg-xperimenting to do if I survive today’s monsoon.

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  26. Very well played TR. Egg-ceptional

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  27. In one of my COVID newsletters, they noted the growth in bidet sales.
    There's a new post in here somewhere, I'm sure:

    https://www.wired.com/story/toilet-paper-shortage-bidet-sales-boom/

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  28. If you can factor in smug self-satisfaction as ROI, Zman's Toto rig is really paying off.

    I removed a Toto bidet attachment from our rental house and gave it to our contractor friend who had done good work at my house for insanely low rates. I don't regret it yet, but there's still time.

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