Denver Broncos fans — and anyone else interested — might soon be able to buy shares in outside linebacker Baron Browning.
Vestible Inc., if approved, plans to launch an “investment platform that will allow fans to buy and sell shares in future income streams of collegiate and professional athletes,” according to Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press.
If the IPO becomes official, the company says 1% of Browning’s monthly income will go to investors as dividends.
“It’s cool to think I’m going to have my own stock,” Browning told Stapleton. “I know being an NFL player brings different opportunities, but I never would have guessed this would be one of them.”
Browning, 24, will have a base salary just north of $1.2 million in 2024 before seeking a big contract as a free agent in 2025.
Fantex — a now-defunct brand acquisition, marketing and development company — started a similar operation in 2013 before later closing its platform to individual investors in 2016.
Former NFL tight end Vernon Davis, playing for the San Francisco 49ers at the time, was Fantex’s first “Brand” athlete. Davis, who later won Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos, had stock offerings valued at $10 a share. It remains to be seen what valuation will be given to Browning’s shares.
