Fredrikstad Fotball Invest – The Company
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Fredrikstad Fotball Invest – The Company That Exists to Support Its Local Football Team

Money is huge in football. You only need to see how much success came to Manchester City following investment or PSG’s ongoing-yet-elusive fight for Champions League success.

This doesn’t mean that money and a love for your club are mutually exclusive, though. Some invest in football clubs because they see it as an investment opportunity and then there are companies like Fredrikstad Fotball Invest (FFI), a company that seems to straddle the line between loving your local football team and also being able to invest in it.

A Club with History but Very Little Recent Success

For context, it’s important to know that Fredrikstad FK, a Norwegian football club based a bit over an hour south of the capital Oslo, is no stranger to success. However, younger fans have had very little to shout about.

The club has been going for over 120 years and was very successful in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s when it won Norway’s top flight 9 times. Since the 60s, however, its only successes have been two cup wins: in 1984 and 2006.

The club was relegated from the top flight of Norwegian football in 2012 and again into the third tier in 2017. The team spent 3 seasons there before returning to the second tier, nearly achieving back-to-back promotions in the process.

Sadly, the club missed out on promotion in 2021, losing in the second round of the promotion playoffs. They came back from 2-0 to equalise and force extra time and while leading in extra time and looking to make the play-off final, they conceded in injury time. Their first and only missed penalty in the shootout would prove decisive as KFUM Oslo would win said shootout 5-4.

FFI

Since 2018, FFI has allowed investors to buy shares to raise money which they then use to support their beloved football club. Local fans and business people like Tor Anders Petterøe have invested significant amounts of money in the project to support their club. Petterøe and his son are the largest single stakeholder group through their media company Golden Touch Media AS, which is also based in Fredrikstad.

Initially, the company started with around 50 investors and continues to sell shares in the company to provide funds. One way they use these funds is through a 30% stake in the club’s players. When buying players, FFI is responsible for 30% of the fees and when selling players, they can get 30% back.

The collaboration between FFI and Fredrikstad FK has allowed the club to offer younger players professional contracts earlier on rather than losing them to bigger clubs in the country and abroad. These young players may also want to stick around Fredrikstad FK if their ambitions to return to the top flight of Norwegian football are realised.

After 3 years of running, FFI can also boast that the company has turned a profit and will be able to enjoy more success and, more importantly, more success for the football club they love.