Major League Football, headquartered in Lakewood Ranch, says it has found another investor
LAKEWOOD RANCH -- After losing its biggest investor, the Major League Football says it has pulled down a Plan B funding option that will pay for a new spring professional league as it heads into training camp in the next few weeks.
On Wednesday, the league announced receipt of a letter of intent from Asian Global Capital Ltd. to enter into a funding agreement that would bring a $100 million line of credit, and a $20 million equity purchase of league common stock. The money is expected to make up for the recent loss of a promised major investor.
Last week, just days from starting its free-agent player draft, publicly traded Major League Football disclosed that a Texas investor, Clairemont Private Investment
Group, LLC, pulled out of a contract that was supposed to bring $20 million into the fledgling league.
Frank Murtha, Major League Football's senior executive vice president, said the league brought Asian on as an investor earlier than it thought it would need to. He said the league is not yet prepared to reveal the name of the individuals associated with the investor group or where it is located.
Major League Football said Asian Global Capital will also receive first right of refusal to purchase a future team franchise in Orlando. The league has plans to sell off more "turnkey" franchises, which is a change from its current structure. At present, the league owns all its teams.
Its option to buy into a franchise team is part of an investment strategy that will bring financial partners into the league to back expansion teams. Murtha said the league still will maintain ownership and control over those teams, in keeping with a business strategy it has had since the outset of operations.
The promise of new money coming into the league has it preparing for its spring training camp. Murtha said the league has not announced that date publicly until it has secured the local lodging needed for its players. League representatives are at work this week making those arrangements.
"We have an internal date we haven't released publicly," he told the Bradenton Herald on Wednesday.
League training camp originally was scheduled to begin Thursday at the Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch. The league's free agent player draft had been scheduled to begin this week.
The league intends to announce the starting dates for its upcoming training camp shortly after finalizing its team rosters, according to its website.
The league has already received about 1,400 signed contracts from potential players looking to take to the field for one of the league's teams. A set of drafts in January brought eight "franchise players" to the league, as well as hundreds of other players in a territorial draft and a national draft. Each team in the league will start the preseason with 80 players on its roster.
In June, the league relocated from Delaware to its new headquarters at 6230 University Parkway. It has signed a two-year television broadcast deal with American Sports Network that includes 10 regular-season and two rounds of postseason games.
Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027 or on Twitter @MattAt Bradenton.
This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 11:45 PM with the headline "Major League Football, headquartered in Lakewood Ranch, says it has found another investor ."