The Business of Football and Bitcoin w/ Peter McCormack (BTC179)

The Business of Football and Bitcoin w/ Peter McCormack (BTC179)

(00:00) hey everyone this episode is brought to 
you by river the place that I personally go to  
securely invest in Bitcoin with confidence 
and with zero fees our Capital needs will  
never catch up with the compound annual 
growth rate of Bitcoin so essentially our  
treasury will always be ahead of our Capital 
needs and maybe in you know four years we’re  
in the National League and I need to spend you 
know a couple of million on infrastructure so  
that takes me down to 18 million and maybe the 
next year another couple of million maybe that 
(00:30) takes me 16 million but Bitcoin does 
another run and maybe that 16 becomes 60 million  
you know just a 3X at that point even a 2X becomes 
40 million you 32 if Bitcoin reprices how I think  
it will do over the next two decades we will not 
spend at the rate that we will grow that treasury  
this is where I want to start though Pete for me 
when I’m looking and just kind of analyzing you  
and the football club and Bitcoin and all of this 
the thing that I think is at your core and uh is  
Upstream of all of this is this deep desire for
(01:13) Bedford which to me is just kind of like  
I don’t know because for me like I I have the the 
hometown I grew up in and whatnot and you know I  
go back there rarely um and I just don’t have 
this I don’t know why but I don’t really have  
this uh connection to it even though I spent 
the first 18 years of my life in the same town  
and all that so I want to start there you you 
want to transform your hometown so like your  
love for your town this this is what I want 
to start off and just kind of understand like 
(01:42) what is driving this deep love for your 
hometown yeah it’s it’s all it’s a hard thing to  
answer Preston um because I don’t have a clear 
answer to it really um other than that I know  
my investment Bitcoin and timing there’s a lot 
of luck with it right um I could have discovered  
it four years later or eight years later and I 
discovered it at the time I did I Y loed in uh  
lost a bit made a bit figured it out and then 
ended up launching a podcast which enabled me  
to then understand how to invest in it
(02:20) and then eight years later I’m  
kind of in this position where the the 
podcast is a platform um I’ve got some  
of these good connections people like yourself 
uh other people in the industry who are experts  
and companies and uh I’ve got a bit of capital 
myself and and I feel very lucky with that so  
yeah how do you pay it forward I’ve got yeah 
when I when I first started this podcast I  
emailed Jameson lob I’d made two episodes 
and he didn’t know who hell I was and he  
said come out to Raleigh let’s shoot some
(02:50) guns and record a podcast and lots  
of people did give up their time they do give 
up their time to allow me to make the podcast  
and bring an income in and and then with the 
football club I’m asking every want to back it  
and come and visit us and watch games and buy 
jerseys and burgers and so if I’m like asking  
for so much I want to give something back and 
I think bedford’s the right size town where  
I can make a difference and I like living 
here I’ve lived here my whole life Preston  
apart from kind of like a year and a half at
(03:19) two years at Union I’ve lived here my  
whole life so uh I’ve got everything I want 
in life so can I can I give something back  
and that’s what I’m trying to do this was 
the funniest part for me coming to Bedford  
so you had prepared all of us and you’re just 
saying oh yeah it’s and we we try not to swear  
on the show uh it’s Town Preston it’s top Town 
don’t worry like lower your expectations and  
all this and as an American I show up and I’m 
staying at this just beautiful hotel very nice 
(03:50) the Swan Hotel very nice hotel and 
there’s this gorgeous river right next to it  
there’s people out there doing crew right there on 
the water there’s these gorgeous Pasa walking the  
beautiful flowers like I’m just enamored by this 
town and I’m thinking what is he talking about now  
I I do realize you got Cambridge and Oxford that 
are like next door neighbors like right between  
or like Bedford sits in between these two like 
renowned towns and I guess is that why everybody  
says what they say about Bedford because for
(04:22) me as an American this would be like  
a topnotch town in the US if you came over here 
and like walked around it crazy well I mean look I  
kept people to the good bits uh that kind of that 
kind of area of the Swan the river and the corn  
exchange but I also uh turned up on the morning 
of the conference and there’s a guy sleeping in a  
tent outside the corn exchange first time I’ve 
ever seen that the morning of the conference  
yeah and then I’m setting my car outside 
getting ready and I’m seeing go in and out of 
(04:49) the toilet outside I didn’t 
even know it was there and I you know  
witnessed the dealing but but like most of us 
watching this managed decline of our economic  
situation in the west well everywhere I I see 
it evidently in where I live I’m seeing the  
rise of homelessness I’m seeing the lack of uh 
capital and funds available from the council to  
spend on uh Park projects local sports the local 
community I’m seeing shots closed down regularly  
I’m speaking to people who are struggling 
financially so I think that’s all in the 
(05:25) back of my mind um and if anything the 
thing about B it’s not that it’s itself wrapped  
out it’s just a nothing town you know people 
don’t come to the UK and go I’m going to go  
to Bedford they go to London they might go to 
Cambridge or Oxford or bath or York they might  
go to Wales might go to Manchester or Le they go 
to a city nobody says I’m G to go to the UK and  
I’m going to go to Bedford it’s not a place you 
go to and so then when I say I think like that  
but now we have people coming to the UK and the
(05:57) reason to is best which is hilarious  
yeah I I think it’s amazing and and I think that 
uh it speaks to you for people that don’t know you  
personally I’ve known you for quite a few years 
um for people that don’t know you personally  
you’re just this extreme you’re an extreme giver 
and you’re a person that just cares deeply about  
others and um I don’t know I I just see a lot of 
reflection in what you’re trying to do in the town  
and very admirable and just very exciting 
for what you’re you’re trying to do for it 
(06:27) and um I don’t I don’t know I just I 
think it’s a it’s a story about you that is  
that is very Untold and that people do not see 
on the surface they might see you uh you know  
online like poking different things but but as a 
person that knows you personally I can just say  
it’s it’s it’s really exciting to see what you’re 
doing Peter and hats off to you well you came I  
mean you saw it you you you came to a match 
day and I didn’t have any time to spend with  
you because I’m wanding around and checking on
(06:55) everyone everyone’s having a good time  
everyone is okay trying to win 
a game yeah which we didn’t uh  
trying to make sure everything runs okay uh but 
yeah look I’ve been very lucky I I said to the  
conference when I gave my little short speech I I 
think Bitcoin represents so many different things  
to so many different people it’s hard to describe 
what it is you you can explain it as money but  
the more time you spend in Bitcoin I think the 
more time you realize what it is for you and for  
me I just see it as a as I said I see it as a
(07:23) pay it forward technology if you can  
survive a uh your first Tour of Duty your first 
four years in Bitcoin and you can get out alive  
at the end of it you should be in a position 
whereby you can help others and that’s either  
with time or capital and I don’t have as much 
time as I was like but certainly have capital  
or access to other people’s Capital which I can 
use to try and help people uh where I live in  
Bedford and uh it’s very easy to move to a big 
city or to move to a beach somewhere and and and 
(07:52) help it and already thriving economy 
but uh you I want to help here I love it here  
I like the people here uh uh yeah I just want to 
do something K mate yeah all right so let’s talk  
about um so we were at the at the conference 
that you set up there in Bedford but you had  
a massive announcement uh Tyler and Cameron winkl 
Vos the winkl Vos twins invested in real Bedford  
your football team um and uh they invested 4.
(08:22) 5 million that’s the number that I think  
is hitting the headlines but the number that I’m 
seeing when when I see this I’m saying hold on a  
sec if I if I know know Pete well he’s going 
to put that amount into Bitcoin let’s say we  
have a a 5x or a 7x run so that’s more like 25 to 
maybe 50 million in buying power in Just 12 to 18  
months from now assuming this this bull market 
does what many of us expected to do in in the  
coming 12 to 18 months that that number the 4.
(08:55) 5 is already insane for a club this size  
but if you five or 7x that uh it gets really 
insane like really fast and and the irony  
for me is the is the name of the conference over 
the weekend was cheat code and when I’m watching  
what’s happening play out I’m thinking holy 
cheat code uh for what you’re competing like  
your your uh the people that you’re competing 
with I don’t think can see what’s maybe about to  
play out here so break it down for us is that 
my assumption correct of how you’re looking 
(09:28) at the treasury and and walk us through 
some of this strategy yeah absolutely You’ you’ve  
nailed it look you and I know one thing 
is that the world is repricing in terms of  
Bitcoin I don’t want to spend Bitcoin right now 
I don’t want to spend the club’s Bitcoin I want  
to spend the pounds that it brings in similar 
to how when I was in Lebanon when people have  
both the Lebanese pound and they have the the US 
dollar in their pocket and they go and buy coffee  
they give the Lebanese pound they don’t want
(09:53) to spend the dollar because that’s  
holding value for them uh and that’s we’re in 
this world that’s pricing in terms of Bitcoin  
and when I first spoke to Cameron Tyler about 
this it was just over two years ago we were at  
um a conference in Texas uh I met up with them 
for a beer and I just said to them look I’ve got  
this idea uh I’d like to buy my local football 
club and get them in the football league so I  
explained to them the league structure and 
Tyler immediately said how do you get him in 
(10:20) the Premier League I was like okay that’s 
a different Prospect because um it gets it gets  
increasingly expensive of every League you go 
up in and you have to have infrastructure and  
you’ll need a stadium so I mean look rough number 
if I picked a number out of the air to take a team  
from the 10th tier to the Premier League I think 
is a 300 million pound project you might be a to  
do it for 100 150 I don’t know but I mean at some 
point you need a stadium that’s going to cost 50  
million if you’re in the championship you’re going
(10:50) to be spending 30 million on wages every  
time you want to have a go it it’s it’s an 
expensive project or you can invest a load of  
Bitcoin sit it in the treasur and if Bitcoin does 
what it says it will do then maybe you can do it  
that way so when we got to the point of raising 
because I essentially spent the last two years I  
think proving uh that I can run a football club 
and that I can understand how promotions yeah  
yeah and I was able to do it sustainably then that 
was we can come back to that that’s just using why 
(11:20) I always say cheat code um and I said 
we need to raise as much as possible and stick  
it in Bitcoin now with $45 million of Bitcoin 
sat in the nth tier of football about to go  
into the eighth tier of football we’re we’re 
the most well capitalized Club at that level  
in the country and if Bitcoin does what 
I think he’ll do over the next two years  
I think our Capital needs will never catch up 
with the compound annual growth rate of Bitcoin  
yeah so essentially our treasury will always 
be ahead of our Capital needs because yeah 
(11:54) we’re not going to get promotion 
every year PR Preston but take that back  
well I would hope so but let’s go on the low end 
say say Bitcoin does a Forex in this cycle and we  
have 20 and maybe in you know four years we’re in 
the National League and I need to spend you know a  
couple of million on infrastructure so that takes 
me down to 18 million maybe the next year another  
couple of million maybe that takes me down to 16 
million but Bitcoin does another run and maybe  
that 16 becomes 60 million you know just a 3X at
(12:27) that point even a 2X becomes 40 million  
you 32 and then the next year I might need 
a couple like the math in my head is is that  
I think if Bitcoin reprices how I think it 
will do over the next two decades we we will  
not spend at the rate that we will grow that 
treasury based on even a decline in compound  
annual growth rate so that’s my thesis yeah 
now alongside that to make that work over the  
next two three years I want the football club 
to be sustainable live within its means and  
still get promotions now we’ve done that for the
(13:01) last two years and we’re an expensive  
Club to run compared to other clubs at this 
level we are a very expensive Club to run I  
mean my budget for next year in step four is 
going to be about £600,000 across the whole  
club there will be clubs with budgets probably 
anywhere ranging from 100,000 to maybe 400,000  
what’s driving yours being so high um we 
always want to have a competitive playing  
budget so I kind of of estimate what I think 
the top budgets will be and make sure we have  
one there so we can compete we don’t want to
(13:33) overspend there uh and we’re doing  
that for men’s and ladies football at the 
same time um so we have high budgets uh we  
also stream all the games I mean that’s 
a 60,000 of year investment okay um we  
have lots of infrastructure requirements 
I mean we spent £40,000 in the ground this  
year just alone on putting in a stand um in 
changing the walkway yeah there will be more  
requirements to do that every year because every 
division you got up you have something called a  
ground grading whereby you have to do certain
(14:05) improvements so there’s costs that will  
be going into that um will those costs keep 
going into the to to the pitch that I saw yes  
until until we have the new location ready 
to build on that but we still have to have  
that ground ready for each level whilst we’re 
working on another one you you can’t stop work  
so there’s costs that go into that we have uh we 
will have full-time staff next year a lot lot of  
clubs entirely relyant volunteers but we’re trying 
to build a project for years ahead so we need to 
(14:36) invest in the staff so we’ll have 
full-time staff working on the club uh we  
have a large outgoing in terms of stock which is 
part of the budget and and you know if we don’t  
sell all the all the stock that ends up sitting 
as uh you know within our p&l but it’s still  
something we have to spend money on we have to 
have the cash flow to do that uh we H will spend  
a significant amount on travel next year because 
we’ be going further distances so we’ll have to  
hire buses to take teams to games so when
(15:04) once you start going through it or  
it all kind of adds up but where are we probably 
different from other clubs is we will invest in  
full-time staff we will invest in the streaming we 
do have this large investment in ladies football  
that we want to happen at the same time we do 
support youth football so we’ve built a model  
that works um I will if if we hit the crowds I 
think we’ll hit next year um and we do the merch  
sales I think we’ll do which is conservative 
we should be Break Even club and if we can 
(15:31) beat that again cuz we did that last year 
then great but um we’re not building a club for  
always for next season we’re build it’s a it’s 
almost like Michael sailor thing I’m building  
a club for the next hundred years a club that 
can get up there and compete and so then it’s  
important to be sustainable and that’s a lot 
of work but you know we’re managing it at the  
moment yeah yeah yeah talk to us about this 
dance that you had with Tyler and and Cameron  
because it happened for multiple years
(15:58) and then you guys finally  
got a deal across the table so talk to us about 
how that initially unfolded yeah they’ve been  
very good um to me from the very start they 
they used to sponsor the podcast a while back  
um and when I told about the football project 
I mean they got it immediately when I explained  
it they’re like oh no I get this this is just 
like Bitcoin it’s a Grassroots movement yeah  
and when they said about the Premier League I 
kind of got it in reverse when I said well if  
you pitch Bitcoin 15 years ago and said
(16:29) what it was trying to achieve  
everyone would say look you’re an idiot you’re 
not going to launch a decentralized currency  
that is going to Dethrone every fear currency in 
the world and become a global Reserve currency uh  
launched by somebody we don’t know and we’ll 
never find out who they are you people think  
you’re an idiot and the same with this saying 
we can take a football club from the 10th tier  
of English football with 40 fans to the Premier 
League again nobody’s ever done it and everyone 
(16:54) thinks I’m an idiot but when you when you 
merge the two together you you realize powered by  
Bitcoin and hard work is possible so they got it 
straight away and I kind of got why they got it  
afterwards um and look I think what they did 
and I haven’t had this confirmed I think what  
they did is they they agreed to sponsor the 
club to begin with almost like a test because  
this isn’t like a traditional investment 
when you invest in software there’s there’s  
traditional metrics you can look at in terms of
(17:28) customer acquisition customer acquisition  
cost lifetime value you how yeah you look at 
the team you see how they’re doing you maybe  
start with a very small seed investment this is a 
very different investment this is doesn’t matter  
how good you are at running businesses do you know 
how to win a league and do you now to recruit the  
right manager so you can win promotions because 
most businesses are fairly simple if you’re  
good at marketing you create a good product 
you look after your stuff you should create 
(17:55) a successful business you can do all the 
business things right with a football Club but  
if the 11 players go on the pitch on that day 
don’t win enough games you don’t get promoted  
so I think I think if anything that they they 
did the sponsorship to help me with the cost of  
running the club and almost like a test to see if 
I can go and do this and look first season we won  
the league by nine points this season we’ve won it 
with a with a game to go it could be by you know  
five six points our ladies are top of the the
(18:24) league they’re most likely going to  
win the league a week on Sunday I think it is 
um so I think I’ve proved I know how to to to  
get promotions or P just so people understand 
the context you started off at tier seven or  
six when you when you first bought the CL 
tier six of non- leagues I’ll explain the  
pyramid English pyramid you have the professional 
leagues which is the Premier League Championship  
League one League two and you have promotion 
and relegation between the two and that’s  
the professional leagues and then you have
(18:54) what’s known as non- league and the  
first level of non- league is called Step One 
okay it’s the fifth tier we start in Step six  
which is the 10th tier okay and that’s a that 
is a that is a genuine pyramid where where once  
you get to the National League there’s only one 
National League Division but below that there’s  
National North and South and there you below that 
there’s you know four more divisions and so on  
so there is a pyramid up to the national 
league and it’s a straight line up if you 
(19:21) finish with if you finish top of most 
leagues you’ll go up and then depending on the  
league you’ll go up if you’re second or if you’re 
second to fifth or third to sixth you’ll go into  
a playoff it’s very competitive because everyone 
wants to win their league or if you you know on  
the lower budget end you’re trying to survive 
and so I I think I proved to them a few I think  
I proved that I can win promotions but I think I 
proved another things I can do it whil building  
a business which is sustainable and I
(19:49) could grow the crowds so we our  
average attendance last season was the highest 
in our division and the same this season and so  
I think I’ve kind of proved I can do it and so 
when I went back to them and said okay I’m I need  
investment it I think it was it was a fairly quick 
decision it really the dance was about how much  
and and how to Value the club which is a difficult 
thing to do and again I said to them look if the  
investment’s too small now there’s a chance I’m 
going to come back at a later date and ask for 
(20:24) more uh sooner than than I’d want to if 
we raise this amount right now and can leave it  
in the treasury and not spend it for a couple of 
years I might never need to come back for more  
money they understood that they understood the 
strategy that they believed in it and wanted to be  
part of it so yeah it happened all fairly quickly 
it was really painless I’ve never raised money  
before and it was it was relatively painless well 
you had the right partner yes you had the right  
partner that understood what you’re trying to
(20:53) do and they understand Sports as well  
yeah yeah yeah they understand Sports and 
understand the nature of sports and and and  
and I think they like the competitive side of 
this uh and I I think what will happen is down  
the road as this is more successful I think 
there might be other billionaires in Bitcoin  
who be like damn it I wish that was me I mean I’m 
already kind of feeling that way not that I’m the  
billionaire but um well we will press them one 
day I do so I’ve kept some Equity back because I 
(21:23) would like to do a fan uh sale at 
some point of like small amounts of equity so  
yourself anyone else who loves the club who 
wants to invest in the club and have just a  
small small amount of ownership can do so that’s 
something we’ll look to do at some point I think  
you’d have a ton of interest in that Pete I really 
do yeah we already do we we’ve got a form on our  
website that’s had over 600 inquiries what what 
really yeah yeah and some people want to write  
big checks yeah we’re talking tens hundreds of
(21:53) thousands and we we just don’t have the  
ability to take that much capital on now because 
I didn’t dilute too much down yeah yeah you got  
to have control Pete you yeah I think that but 
there will be a time Beyond me and again it’s  
another interesting investment PR because I 
was talking to Tyler and Camera about this I  
said this is an investment for you whereby if 
we do get to the Premier League you’ll own you  
know a significant amount of equity in a highly 
valuable asset yeah in the most watch sporting 
(22:24) league in the world yeah for me it 
will never be about the money so I’m asking  
them to depart for money for something where 
I don’t care about the money I just about the  
the success Journey yeah the journey and yeah 
so if anything because I don’t need the money  
and that success is more important I probably 
will work harder at this um and I there’ll be  
a time Beyond me where I somehow I don’t think 
it’s the part of my inheritance that would go  
to my children I think it would somehow go to
(22:52) the town in some kind of trust that  
the town owns and no individual owns I’ve got a 
really strange tangent but I think it’s connected  
yeah I read and I don’t know if this is rumor or 
real that Universal Studios is trying to set up  
uh a theme park in Bedford is this is this true 
this is true it’s also totally insane this is a  
really big deal in my opinion huge for for the 
club yes because it’s going to bring such a a  
different level of capital into the town 
and interest into the town and um what’s 
(23:29) the time is this like is this happening 
or is there just talk about this like where  
what’s going on they’ve bought the land so they 
bought 5 yeah they bought 500 Acres it’s about a  
4minute drive from my house it’s just insane 
you crazy yeah so I got to tell you a story  
so uh there’s a there’s a theme park in uh in 
Pennsylvania it’s called Hershey like Hershey  
Chocolate the whole town the whole town revolves 
around this this Chocolate Factory a lot of it’s  
been outsourced out of town but what’s really
(24:01) interesting is they’ve set up this massive  
Sports Complex in association with the park and 
so you’ll have uh like state championships and  
like all these types of events that happen at 
Hershey Park and I guess I’m looking at what’s  
happening with universal coming into the town 
and I’m looking at at your situation and how  
you guys are going to have to grow and it almost 
seems like there’s this there’s this situation  
that could be like mutually beneficial to 
each other if there’s somehow a way that 
(24:30) you could preemptively kind of work 
together or I I don’t know the universal  
stadium it’s got a good ring to it yeah you 
just got a yeah something that you just is  
this something you’ve thought about is this 
something that you’re entertaining is there  
any way you could have a conversation with them 
early on from like uh before they start work yes  
so so the stages of the project it was announced 
I think about a year ago I think you wrote in b  
was like what they got the land there yes so it’s
(25:04) a good we’re a good location so where they  
bought the land’s really interesting there’s two 
uh main Motorway spines that go up through the  
country through the left and the right you’ve 
got the M1 which goes up towards Manchester  
yeah and then you’ve got the A1 and bedford’s 
really interesting in that we’ve got a bypass  
between the two about and we’re 40 minutes 
north of London and so we connect the country  
very well so what we have had around here is lots 
of logistics places pop up we have a huge Amazon 
(25:32) warehouse here because we’re perfectly 
located on that bypass is where they bought the  
land so getting that amount of land near London 
is very difficult but a train to Bedford from  
London is 40 minutes so if you fly into London 
we’re very easy to get to but we’re also good  
to get to from the north of England as well so 
we’re we’re in a very good location the talk is  
that they think it will take up to 10 years to 
to complete the planning and the infrastructure  
requirements and the build but think
(26:01) where our football club might be in  
10 years time you know we might be a professional 
team in the professional leagues by then I mean  
that’s certainly my hope so no it’s certainly on 
my mind um yes I want to speak to them uh I do  
have connections who can get me to talk to them 
I hope it’s something they’d be interested in I  
certainly think our investment from Cameron 
and Tyler win us uh gives me the credibility  
to sit in the room with them and say I think 
there is a potential relationship here but I 
(26:30) also think of it a little bit like the 
Raiders moving to Vegas MH if you support the  
Green Bay Packers I expect the Green Bay Packers 
is the whole town going to watch the Green Bay  
Packers when they play that’s pretty much it 
but I think with the Raiders I think a large  
number of people going watch the Raiders play 
people whove come to Vegas for the weekend and  
so I think ra Bedford has an opportunity of being 
that kind of team whereby we have the people from  
the town going but if there’s thousands tens of
(26:59) thousands of people going to this theme  
park they may also choose to come watch 
a real beffer game over that weekend so  
no it’s definitely on my mind it it is an 
incredible gift for the town of Bedford it  
certainly puts us on the map um we have another 
place called Alton Towers which is a huge theme  
park there’s no reason to go to Alton unless 
you’re going to Alton Towers but now we might  
have two reasons to come to Bedford which is one 
to go to to do Universal Studios or two to go to  
um r bord another interesting fact I don’t
(27:29) know if I saw you and showed you but  
but when you came to our football ground did 
you see the large aircraft Airship hangers no  
I didn’t see that they’re about a two-minute 
drive from the football ground that’s where  
they shot Batman oh wow really they’re the yeah 
they’re the largest indoor structure in the UK  
they built Gotham City in Bedford no way yeah 
there’s so many films that have been shot there  
you know I was joking on Twitter the whole time 
I was in Bedford calling it a resort town and 
(27:56) it might turn into a resort town with 
all this happening um and oh my God Pete the  
comments from it was it was hilarious the people 
from the US like oh wow that looks so beautiful  
the people from the UK I can’t believe you 
actually put that into writing that this is  
the comments were hilarious the funny thing is is 
you commented in a very British way it was always  
very British human and I was like I was just 
looking at that picture going Preston you’re  
not allowed to you’re not allowed to stand on that
(28:26) grass the grass picture was hilarious and  
then your comment and then you replied back to me 
and I was like oh I think I did sort of piss Pete  
off Just a Touch by no you didn’t you didn’t all 
right well no you you embraced B everyone embraced  
it and and it was just it was really surreal and 
overwhelming to because we we do this job we make  
this podcast we we go to these events we we become 
a community of friends but to have everyone come  
to my place honestly it was really humbling 
so I was overwhelmed a lot of it I mean I I’ve 
(28:58) been to a lot of conferences Pete and 
I’m not just saying this cuz you’re a close  
friend I had so much fun there the pubs just like 
everything was in with within walking distance  
um and it was just everybody was having a blast 
you’re not I don’t know if you’re going to take  
this recommendation but the size was actually 
perfect because you can get to know the people  
that are there uh I think you had like 500 550 
people at the conference and for me it’s it’s a  
lot of fun to have like real conversations with
(29:27) people and not feel like you’re getting  
kind of pulled in you know numerous different 
directions but one other thing and I heard this  
from at least five people when I was there I’m so 
glad that the panels and like the conference was  
only one day and we had another day to just 
go have fun with everybody that was there  
and I I’m serious I heard that from so many 
people that it wasn’t like three days of like  
listening to panels over and over again so as 
far as say like so a lot of people said to us 
(29:56) things like do you know I like VI 
attendees cuz it’s not cheap to go I mean  
it’s £250 ticket ,000 if your VIP but they 
said the cool thing was I would go to a bar  
and there would be Preston pish or Jeff Booth and 
I could talk to them and they were real in front  
of me because if you go to bitcoin uh you Miami 
previously or Nashville now it’s a huge event  
and it’s hard to get that connection with people 
I think we’re going to make it slightly bigger I  
think we’re going to add a couple more couple
(30:23) hundred more next year um and I think  
there’ll be I think it will sell out I 
think there a lot of there was a lot of  
yeah yeah but what was interesting is we did it 
last year as just a live podcast casually 150  
people and took them to the football and then we 
realize the thing about the conference is nobody  
really wants to go to the second day they’re all 
hung over uh if you’ve got the opening slot on the  
second day you’ve essentially got this goost shift 
that no one wants to be at and so it’s really 
(30:49) difficult to get people interested in the 
second day but if the second day is a barbecue and  
beers and watching a game of football later 
in the afternoon yeah it’s just so much fun  
and I think that’s people had such a good time 
because they’re like this is so different and  
I think the conference scene will start becoming 
more experiential because there’s a couple I’ve  
been invited to recently it’s three days of 
talk so I’m like I I don’t want to do this I  
like I like Pacific because at Pacific they do
(31:14) such a good job of the non-conference  
thing the outside with the basketball and the 
game and the bar I love that one and I you know  
I love Bitcoin magazines because it’s so big and 
everyone goes and I’ll be in Nashville but the  
ones which are just two three days of panels I’ve 
got zero interest because I personally I just want  
it more experiential now yeah well so much of it 
is just the networking that takes place and just  
meeting other people like-minded people that have 
a have a love for like what the whole movement’s 
(31:44) about being able to network with them 
and um you know dude it was so much fun oh my  
God was it fun um here’s some other cool things 
let me tell you some other cool things in the  
back of it so uh firstly the vegan next door uh 
the vegan coffee shop she had her busiest Friday  
ever and she decided to keep all the Bitcoin 
she said you know I’m Gonna Keep I’m Gonna  
Keep the Bitcoin I think this is the future she 
said everyone was so nice it’s the nicest event  
that’s ever been on and I I I think I want to
(32:15) keep so she’s keeping all the Bitcoin  
she brought in there was a local restaurant 
called wagger MERS it’s a chain of uh Japanese  
restaurants they’ve emailed me and they said 
our restaurant was full of people where ra  
Bedford merchandise on the Saturday night and 
the atmosphere was great so they’ve invited me  
in for dinner on Monday to go and talk to 
them about it um there was another one the  
pizza place that did the pizzas outside um I 
had to settle my balance with them because we  
owe them for the VIP food they’ve asked for us to
(32:45) pay them in Bitcoin and so we’ve got this  
kind of gradual orange pilling of of people 
in the town as well L Teta um the restaurant  
had their busiest night so I think I think 
a lot of people in the town who maybe were  
skeptical stting to realize I this is a really 
good thing for Bedford well no doubt and and I  
I like I paid for this uh sweatshirt I’m wearing 
right now with Bitcoin it was amazing there you go  
thanks for your set I want to talk a little bit 
about uh the business of a a football team yeah 
(33:19) specifically just like how like your 
thought process and and I don’t know if you’re  
comfortable sharing your thought process on 
this I’m assuming you will yeah just I would  
think it’d be so hard and time consuming to 
be able to audit all the players the upand  
cominging players like who I’m G to add to the 
roster whether I’m overpaying I think that’s  
the part that would be as a value investor as 
a deep value investor I’m thinking in terms of  
can this guy literally kick the ball five times
(33:48) better because of the value that you’d pay  
than this other guy that I can get and like yeah 
performing this quantitative qualitative dance in  
a in a way that like hey maybe next year this 
guy’s just going to kind of suck for because  
he’s getting old or whatever like taking so 
many variables into account clearly you can  
do it you’ve you’ve done it very well for 
two two years in a row you were number one  
in in running a team right out of the gate I 
find that miraculous how do you go about that 
(34:21) process it seems like it’d be so difficult 
to to look across the whole spectrum of of players  
and being able to select and I don’t know well 
this comes down to the manager so so I will get  
a lot of plaudits in the Bitcoin World for for 
doing this yeah in the football world most a  
lot of the plaudits will go to the manager and 
I think I think it’s a job that both of us do  
together in that we have a very clear separation 
of roles and responsibilities he’s everything on  
the pitch which means players player
(34:53) selection player acquisition  
player performance I don’t interfere with that 
at all the team is his team and I’m okay with  
that I’m everything off the pitch I’m the brand 
I’m the marketing I’m I’m the business side and  
we talk all the time we speak every day I mean we 
had a coffee this morning uh we we’re meeting up  
at 5:00 today we we speak regularly but I can 
talk to you in detail about the business side  
of it but in terms of the players and the the 
player acquisition that’s all the manager what 
(35:23) I can tell you is really interesting is 
how important they are so when I actually bought  
the Club I had them for half a season when under 
their old name bford FC and they were just below  
the playoffs and I changed the manager straight 
away and the new manager I came in I gave a really  
good budget I said just get us in the playoffs 
they recruited a bunch of players well paid very  
well paid players we had one player in the team 
who’s paid more than anyone’s been paid since but  
it didn’t work we didn’t getting the playoffs we
(35:53) weren’t getting the results and and  
I realized this is this a lot harder than I 
think you can’t just throw money at it yeah  
and so at the end of that season when we became 
ra Bedford I I knew I had to change the manager  
I realized it is the manager that drives this 
you can have a great manager and no budget and  
and you won’t go up it’ be very hard but you 
can have a great budget and a terrible manager  
and you won’t go up you need a good budget and a 
manager knows how to spend it so I was told by a 
(36:21) couple of people to speak to this guy Rob 
Sinclair he was an ex-professional he played in uh  
in the professional leagues played for stevenage 
he played for forest green and I was told he’s  
trying to play expansive entertaining football 
and to dominate teams and he was running a team  
called anbury who didn’t have a budget and I went 
and looked at their results before he took over  
and after they took over and he changed the team 
around but he did without a budget and so when I  
met him I immediately knew who was the guy for the
(36:50) job he was so professional um he was ready  
with a presentation to explain his strategy of 
how we win the league and I said to him tell me  
what you need need and he told me what he needs 
in terms of budget and infrastructure and I gave  
it to him and he went and won the league in the 
first season one of the most common questions I  
get asked from family and friends is Preston 
where do you personally buy your Bitcoin from  
and the answer is really simple I buy it on river.
(37:17) com not only can you easily buy Bitcoin  
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your business additionally River has built their 
own infrastructure from the ground up which means  
they don’t rely on third parties to function like 
other Bitcoin exchanges River also just created a  
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(37:46) River link it allows you to send  
Bitcoin over a text message to easily orange 
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send a gift there’s a new standard for investing 
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you sign up and buy Bitcoin that’s river. 
(38:08) com fundamentals and then I said the same 
at the end of that season what do you need to go  
and win the league and he told me we’ve just won 
the league again I already knew I already we did  
the work earlier I said if we win this league 
what do you need he’s told me and so I’ve got  
everything in place for next season but in 
terms of player budgets player selection  
player recruitment that’s entire him I don’t 
get involved in any of it at all all I do is  
say what budget do you need to challenge for the
(38:33) title he tells me and I go away and I do  
all the business side of things to make sure he 
has that budget it’s a very clear separation I  
don’t criticize it yeah it was interesting Preston 
so we had a run recently we had a run of games  
where we lost uh to lever stock and we had three 
draws and we went from a position of of very clear  
eight points clear at the top of League to being 
in a position where if MK Irish won their games  
in hand they would have been Five Points clear 
and so what happens at that point people start 
(39:06) coming to me and said well why is Rob 
doing this why is he picking that person they’re  
being backseat managers and I said I don’t know 
that’s his decision I trust him we’re top of the  
leag love this yeah I love this Pete this is I 
I always had a saying whenever I was managing  
large teams give people if when charge people 
with responsibility they’ll take responsibility  
if you have the right people and then you 
can’t get in there and start messing with  
them right nope you cannot mess with them you
(39:38) you hired the guy that you think is  
the right guy let him run with it he’s going to 
make mistakes you’re paying for those mistakes  
and he’s going to learn from those mistakes and 
if and if after a certain amount of time you’ve  
determined all right I let him do his thing and 
it just didn’t work out he was he was the wrong  
guy but you gave him a shot till to to go through 
the the cycles of learning making mistakes M uh  
you know making good decisions and and seeing 
the rewards of those that is the epitome of 
(40:10) leadership y I said Rob won The League 
last year by nine points we’re still top of  
the league now Irish have to win their games 
and they’ve got a hard run I’m not going to  
second I’m not going to question Rob yes because 
it’s down to him he’s we’re top of the league  
why are you questioning this we can’t win every 
game yeah and look at the games look when we  
lost to lever stock you know fair play they 
played well when we drew with poton we missed  
a last minute penalty and we dominated them
(40:38) when we drew a bigles w they scored  
a last minute penalty and so and I think these 
football is a game of fine margins but Rob is such  
a professional over the space of a season we’re 
going to come out the good side of These Fine  
margins and we did we won the league with a game 
to go and uh yeah and I think that’s one of the  
things about becoming a and I think I one of the 
things I learned very quickly two things actually  
I’ve learned a lot but two things I learned 
I’ve got to come to terms with that it’s a weird 
(41:07) business in that you can do everything 
right and then you can lose a game and that  
affects the business and so I’ve emotionally 
separated myself and that become very stoic  
if we don’t get promoted fine we’ll carry 
on doing our job we’ll carry on gr football  
team not going to get over emotional about it 
unless we win of course then I’ll go crazy but  
secondly absolute trust in everybody in in their 
position absolute trust I it’s like Emma Emma was  
you met Emma how good is Emma Emma’s amazing
(41:36) yeah Emma doesn’t know how good she  
is she she is unbelievable and she she L my 
by the way she loved my fake neck neck tattoo  
that I had for the day she comp I want you to 
get that for real she Emma Emma will fo me up  
and she’s like um I don’t know what to do about 
this what do you think I should do and I’m like  
I say it straight wa what do you think you 
should do she’s like and she’ll tell me I  
like we’ll do that she’s like is that the right 
answer I was like I don’t know go and find out 
(42:05) yeah or she’ll pH me up and tell me a 
decision she’s made and I’ve said you’ve made  
the decision I can’t change it you don’t even 
need to tell me this for our football club to  
keep growing it has to be able to run outside of 
me I need to focus on growing the brand focusing  
on the business all these other things just get 
on with it and and I’ve learned this with this  
business more than any other business I’ve run 
because it is so unique that you just have to  
put people in a position of authority and trust
(42:30) them and say get on with it and let them  
make their own mistakes and and and football 
accelerated that because it’s such a weird  
business yeah wow what would you what would 
you say he thinks his secret is to hiring  
like what what’s he doing are you or are you 
just so hands off just like getting out of his  
way well I think I think that will CH that’s 
something that’s changing I think originally  
I think his secret to recruitment is just 
telling people what his Ambitions are and  
how he’s going to approach training Rob demands
(43:05) professionalism from everyone even from  
me he will call he will pull me up if I’m not 
being professional enough with something absolute  
professionalism and commitment and so there 
are players out there who you consider maybe  
Journeymen who are happy to pick up their wage 
yeah they’re good players they’re naturally good  
players but they don’t care about going up too 
much further Rob wants to find young talented  
players who want to to play at higher levels that 
that will listen and develop and work with him who 
(43:32) will train twice a week train hard who 
won’t drink will focus on their Fitness so I  
think he he his uh secret was that is convincing 
people that under him he will develop them they’ll  
become better players I think we’re in this 
fortunate position now is that people want to  
come to us yeah people want play for a team you 
want to win leagues is it his humility as well it  
seems like he’s a very humble person that yeah 
yeah I think mainly it’s it’s not just people  
wanting to play for him he’s got to find
(44:01) players that want to play and be  
professional in the way he is yeah so it’s a 
there are people there are people he wants to  
find but there are people out there who who want 
to find him as well yes yeah because they want  
to play at higher levels of football we’ve got 
so many good young talented players like Josh  
cetel on the wing Ben Stevens Ben Stevens last 
year he played for Kempston Rovers I think he  
scored 12 goals this season scored 40 in the 
number 10 position under Rob he will become  
a better footballer he will learn more and
(44:36) so for for him being at our club is  
a great thing and so I think I think it works 
both ways but but with such high profile now  
people will want to come and play for us at 
first they didn’t take us seriously it was  
just this guy from Bedford big loud mouth saying 
I’m going to take this team in the Premier League  
they’ve seen back-to-back promotions growing 
crowds investment they know where’re we’re the  
real deal now and people will want to play for us 
Preston I love it I love it talk to us about how 
(45:03) the business side of this changes let’s 
say you get up into tier four or three from here  
uh what changes because I I was hearing from some 
friends that uh like once you get up to a certain  
level that uh the amount that you can spend on 
players is somewhat capped based off of the a  
multiple of your of your Revenue that’s coming 
through the club that way you just can’t like uh  
yeah bu your way up so talk to us about some of 
that and like what the challenges are and how you  
to navigate something like that yeah that’s the
(45:35) financial fair play roles which a number  
of teams have been docked points at the 
higher levels for uh Everton noing Forest  
uh have been docked points and I think Man City 
are under investigation because they bent the  
rules uh it doesn’t affect us at our level 
but I don’t think about it anyway cuz we’re  
already sustainable based on our Revenue model 
this is why I focus so hard on the business  
CH to my son about this yesterday cuz he was 
asking and I said look there’s a film you need  
to watch glary GL Ross where we talked about
(46:03) always be selling I’m always selling  
everywhere I go when people ask me about the 
club I say have you been to a game are you coming  
there’s a game on Tuesday come down I’m recruiting 
one person at a time around Bedford because people  
through the door every person who comes through 
the door on a match day means 12250 for the club  
and so when we get a crowd of 200 that’s 25,000 
but you have base costs of a match day of paying  
the referees putting on the food so you may only 
make about ,000 profit with that whereas on the 
(46:36) game you came where we had a th000 people 
there and we took £18,000 take off our base cost  
and our cost of sales we made over £10,000 that 
day now if you could do that every day you every  
game you got 25 home games that’s £250,000 Revenue 
just on a match day um so so that side of things  
is why sustainability is so important because 
even with the investment you can’t just go and  
splash it on wages you you you’ll break the 
financial fair play rules and you lose points  
um so but there’s there’s a couple other things
(47:11) that have become really important to the  
club in terms of growing as you got through 
the leagues that is really important but  
infrastructure is is is the the big one and 
there’s two big things on my radar one is  
our ground so I’ve talked about our ground 
we can sweat this asset up until three more  
promotions okay realistically if we keep getting 
those promotions we need a ground suitable for  
League football which itself will be a five to six 
million pound investment but we have to start that  
work now we have to be ready for when
(47:44) we’re ready to be able to you  
have that ground ready um but there’s another 
really big change that’s going to come that’s  
really important is going from part-time 
to fulltime in the National League the one  
below the for professional leagues where 
rexen where rexon were when Ryan Reynolds  
bought them they will be fulltime and then 
below that National North and South you’ll  
have a mix of teams which are fulltime and 
hybrid and so hybrid would be your manager  
will be full-time and you maybe have a a squad
(48:15) of 10 to 12 youngsters like younger  
players who are full-time and then maybe 
some youth team players you know teenagers  
and then you’ll have a core of first team 
experienced players who are maybe 25 to 35  
years old who will only train twice a week on 
or maybe three times a week in the evenings  
because you got to think if you’re 30 years 
old you’re a very very good footballer you  
may have a job earning 60 70,000 a year 
and you’re also bringing maybe in 15,000  
a year playing football you’re not going
(48:47) to earn that as a professional  
footballer playing at this level and so what 
you tend to do you tend to find a lot of players  
they never reach their full potential because 
they’re never going to play in those divisions  
because they’re not going to risk the finances 
for their family so they tend to stay around  
this level I’m always working one season ahead 
so Rob always says one game at a time if I ask  
him about our Cup Final on Wednesday he’ll say 
forget that we’ve got a league game on Saturday 
(49:16) we’ll talk about that afterwards I’m 
the same with leagues I think one year at a  
time so all the work for next season’s done in 
terms of my preparation and we’re ready to go  
I’m thinking about the the season afterwards 
if we get promoted we up in step three and  
so I’m thinking can we be hybrid that year can 
we because not many teams do it at that level  
but if we are if Rob is full-time we got full-time 
youth players and we’ve got young players fulltime  
that’s going to give us such an advantage over
(49:45) everyone else so how do I fund that  
how do I finance what’s the infrastructure 
for that and so there’s all these things of  
a growing football club that you have 
to think about to try and get in place  
and then to do that you have to be sustainable 
so okay if I want to have that full-time model  
what does it cost me okay well it cost me that 
then I need to bring in this much on revenue on  
sponsorship this much money in on uh merch sales 
and this much money on a match day so there’s like  
these competing things of what you want to do
(50:14) but being able to afford to do it  
sustainably and it’s it’s it takes up a lot 
of my time luckily I have Danny on the podcast  
the show so I can do this because i’ I’d say 
Preston this this football club is % of my time  
now yeah yeah I would imagine so not to mention 
Danny’s incredible by the way yeah he’s amazing  
and and by the way Pete you said you’re always 
you’re always closing I’ll close this one for  
you this merch is amazing um we’ll have a link 
to the uh in the show notes for people if they 
(50:44) want to buy a Bedford hat or real 
Bedford uh shirt or sweat sweatshirt’s nice  
I like sweatshirts without the hoodie on I saw 
this I had I had to own it all right uh we by  
the way we usually sell about one item a day on 
the on the club shop we sometimes like at the  
start of the Season we’ll sell a bit more yeah but 
it’s one item a day since the announcement we’ve  
been selling uh 10 about 10 items a day that’s 
amazing yeah it’s just supports a sustainability  
of the club there hasn’t been a conference
(51:15) that I’ve gone to that I hadn’t seen  
at least one person wearing real Bedford uh 
gear around you know around the conference um  
that’s kind of nuts really when you think about 
it because every conference I go to I think our  
merch is the most worn merch now I think so too 
I think so too has to be a little surreal people  
walking around with Bedford stuff on well we get 
I get photos so one guy was in a gym in London  
sent me a photo there’s a guy working out in one 
of our shirts one of our jerseys another guy at 
(51:46) the World Cup and so it’s starting to 
get spotted around the world which is the really  
thorre real thing yeah I’m want to go back to 
this uh additional um micro Equity offering  
that you had talked about earlier yes are you 
going to I would recommend and I’m curious if  
you would agree with this you got to strip the 
Voting Rights out of whatever additional Equity  
you’re going to issue here yes and I okay that’s 
good um and I think that a person that would I  
know personally if I was going to buy a small
(52:19) portion of equity of Bedford I wouldn’t  
want to own any voting rights I want you to have 
the Voting Rights I don’t want somebody to step in  
there and start influencing the way you’re doing 
this so um well that’s the same with Cameron and  
Tyler as well really okay they they’re co-owners 
now yeah but they they don’t want to be making  
decisions they don’t want to have to vote they 
trust me it’s like Pete you get on with this and  
yes look a football club it kind of needs 
to be a dictatorship it really kind of and 
(52:49) and and it is at the moment I mean I have 
uh people’s opinions I I I seek but if we do this  
do this raid yes we would strip out voting rights 
uh I think there’s a lot of people who just want  
to be part of the project yeah it would be another 
way to stack more Bitcoin into our treasury But  
ultimately I think the big part of this is if 
it’s a thousand people 10,000 people buying  
tiny shares that’s a 10,000 person marketing 
department yeah yes who bought into the future  
of the club going round to I mean did you be
(53:21) Edgar the guy from Minneapolis who  
had the flag so Edgar this is the second he 
came he runs a rail Bedford supporters Club  
in Minneapolis okay he gets 15 people together 
in a bar every game and watches the live stream  
that’s hilarious I’ve seen real Bedford uh I 
think there’s one up in Ohio too um I saw it  
on Twitter just like they had their own little 
Twitter group oh everywhere then all right so  
um I was having so much fun when I was there at 
the game I come back and I’m still watching a lot 
(53:56) of the antics you guys win the division 
after I got back to the States and I’m talking  
a little smack online with the other team 
so for people that aren’t familiar there’s  
two there’s two teams in Bedford Pete when 
you bought the team correct me if I’m wrong  
you were two divisions lower than the other team 
in town correct well yeah well actually kind of  
yes but within six months we were three below 
because they got promoted oh okay so you know  
I to buy them so I didn’t realize this so you
(54:30) tried to buy the other team which was  
higher what happened with what happened with 
the negotiations why did that fall through  
and and so I went and told them I I made a 
very good offer an offer that you don’t get  
for a club like that way more than they deserve 
but because they were going they were about to  
get promoted and go three divisions were higher I 
basically offered what I thought the cost was for  
us to get there yeah it’s half a million pounds 
that’s a lot of money for a club at that level 
(54:55) but I also said to them look this 
is the plan I want to do I’m working on  
uh an investment with some very significant 
billionaires um I think I can take them to  
the football league so we had a long conversation 
uh they ultimately said no I think for a couple  
of reasons one they were going into uh a higher 
Division and I believed he thought he could do  
it himself I don’t think he fully understood 
the proposition but then I don’t think many  
people have I think a lot of people thought it 
is not a serious offer um but I think the bigger 
(55:27) issues were that I didn’t want to change 
their name they wouldn’t have been ra bifford they  
would have stayed as bifford town but I did want 
to change the colors and ultimately the current  
chairman uh I didn’t want any involvement for him 
it had to be a clean break uh you could be a fan  
you can come along but You’ have no involvement 
and I think that was difficult for him you know  
his dad used to be very much involved in the 
club very respect respected man in the town  
and cultiv it wasn’t right for him so fine that’s
(55:53) that’s not a problem uh I think they were  
very surprised when we announced the buying of 
the next door neighbors uh and rightly were a  
little bit worried um I also think they thought 
I was trolling them calling it ra Bedford which  
I wasn’t because I think they read it as real 
Bedford I said they’re not the real Bedford  
but really it was just more of a joke because 
it’s a bit like Real Madrid but from Bedford so  
we obviously nothing like them so I thought that 
was kind of funny but yeah so that’s been a rival 
(56:27) that’s been bubbling and this season 
has been bubbling a lot more because it’s  
getting close to us being in the same division 
we’re confirmed to go up to theirs they have a  
chance for promotion in theirs if they 
do then they’ll go up to one above but  
if they don’t we’ll be in the same division 
crazy they BL you they’re very they’re very  
they very sensitive I mean I I kind of deserved 
it like I’ll admit if I get blocked by somebody  
I’ll admit I deserved what I was I mean I was
(56:56) calling them babies I was saying that  
they were Watering your field with their tears 
I was telling them that they needed to have a  
box of tissue I’m sorry a pallet of tissues 
delivered to their front door so I deserve  
the block um but I find it I find it hilarious 
this rivalry and I think that it’s only heating  
up do you think they’re going to get promoted this 
year the other team they should do look if I was  
betting on it I would say yes but yeah winning 
the league is going to be hard for them now 
(57:22) they could do it but it’s going to 
be hard if not they go to the playoffs and  
the playoffs can be a lottery it’s one game uh 
you you don’t turn up and the other team turns  
up you can lose it and so in look interestingly 
I want them to go up uh for two reasons one if  
well one main reason I want to win the league 
next year and if we’re in the same division  
that will be a distraction that’s all people will 
think about we we’ll be competing on budgets it  
will be a distraction it will be a psychological
(57:55) distraction so if they go up I don’t have  
to think about that I can focus and Rob can focus 
on winning that Division and then maybe we meet in  
the one above it but the one above it the level so 
much higher it would be a great rivalry but less  
of a distraction yeah so ultimately I want them 
to go up if they don’t Ian it’s going to be fire  
Preston I recommend you you fly over that yeah 
it will be a sellout it will be fire it will be  
noisy the whole town will come out and financially 
it’ll be great for both clubs because we can host 
(58:32) 1500 and we will and they can host 3,000 
and I would not be surprised if you get 3,000  
there in the town out for that game um the Rivalry 
is interesting because I think they’ve got a big  
problem everything we’ve been doing we’ve been 
working on for two two and a half years building  
a brand building a match day experience and I 
don’t think they realized the threat early on and  
they certainly do now and so now they’re trying 
to change things at their place but their Crowds  
Are Falling um their fans some of their fans
(59:07) are disgruntled and the way I explained  
it I think they’re trying to turn around 
a tanker and catch up with a speedboat  
yeah and so at some point we will get ahead of 
them if they don’t get promoted I think we’re  
the bigger Club at that point we certainly 
got the bigger following we’ve definitely  
the Better Business model and we’ve certainly got 
higher revenues the only thing they may have us on  
us is crowds but I think that’s changing like I 
say the trajectory of our crowds is up uh We’ve 
(59:37) our crowd on the game when you were 
there was the bigger than any crowd they’ve  
had this season their average is higher than 
us our average is like 250 there is like 450  
500 but more people are going to come next year 
for us because of the winkl Voss announcement  
because of what we’re doing are the twins coming 
over to a game I mean they’re going to have to  
at some point they’re going to have to have 
to come to the UK at some point for business  
so we’ll just time it yeah yeah yeah I mean
(1:00:02) at at the end of the day they’re  
going to be forced to play your game which 
there’s no there’s no better way to define  
winning than having your opponent be forced to 
play your game right um and well every football  
club will have Bitcoin eventually and you know 
this is another funny thing Preston because a  
lot of people uh laugh at us and make jokes about 
us and make joke jokes about the Bitcoin thing  
so like I’m I’ll go to a club and they’ll they’ll 
make jokes we’re not going to accept your Bitcoin 
(1:00:30) or they call us the Bitcoin they just 
make all these jokes about us to with Bitcoin  
but I’m there thinking H that means you don’t 
understand it yeah that means right in front  
of you is this thing which can solve so many 
problems for you and you you don’t understand  
it you don’t take it seriously I’m sure if 
I turn around to you and say you know how’s  
your how’s your cost of living going what’s what’s 
happened with your groceries what’s happened with  
the price of fuel you feeling the squeezes if your
(1:00:54) interest rates gone up on your mortgage  
you know if you got less disposable income each 
month they’re going to say yes to all of those  
and I’m okay well you should May yeah yeah in 
fact in fact my cost have been going down bro  
I don’t know what to do yeah and and so they’re 
making jokes and it’s like thing here that will  
help you uh so we’ve got this advantage over 
other football clubs because we’re aheading  
them with this they’ll all eventually get there 
uh and I hope it’s sooner rather than later but 
(1:01:24) yeah I just I just can’t imagine 
seriously how we started off the show I  
can’t even imagine 12 months to 18 months from 
now when these other clubs are looking at your  
treasury it’s going to be nuts it’s gonna melt 
their brains but it’s like brains if you look  
at what El we’re kind of the Grassroots English 
football version of El Salvador micro strategy yes  
everybody laughed at Bu The Press were writing 
articles saying he’s squandering there uh at  
their treasury he’s squandering the the country’s
(1:01:54) finances he’s wasting on this Bitcoin  
thing Michael sailor yeah know there was a time 
I think his investment was down about a billion  
and people were laughing him and mocking at him 
look where we are now Michael sailor was right bu  
was right I know I’m right and it’s going to 
take that cycle when people say oh uh ask us  
about the $4 and a half million do investment I’m 
like God do you mean the $20 million investment  
they’re like what I said yeah that we haven’t 
spent any $20 million now and then at some 
(1:02:21) point be 40 million and then other big 
clubs big clubs up in the football league who are  
in debt and struggling are going to look at us 
and go damn oh yeah yo oops that yeah what is  
what is the size of the treasuries if if you had 
to guess on average for the now the the one that  
you’re promoting into you’re now in four um what 
do those treasuries look like just so people can  
kind of understand the Delta they probably 
don’t exist treasuries most clubs will limp  
through to the end of the season and I
(1:02:54) know some some some clubs  
won’t be able to pay the wages and will lose 
players uh it’s it’s football is very much hand  
to mouth for a lot of clubs there are out a lot 
examples there’s a club called farham very good  
club run by a guy called Harry Hugo they’re 
similar to us they’re trying to do something  
different he’s investing but most clubs lose money 
or break even very few clubs actually make make  
money Plymouth are a great example outside of 
the Premier League and a lot of the top Premier 
(1:03:25) League clubs do most clubs are losing 
money and and limping through to the end of the  
season we’re finishing the end of this season 
forget the winlos investment we’ve still I think  
got four and a half Bitcoin I mean that’s you in 
English pounds that’s £225,000 just sat there that  
we can use at some point but itself might be6 
700,000 next year we’ve still got I think about  
£60,000 in the bank we we are a comfortable 
Club that’s expensive to run because we’re  
a good business and we use Bitcoin and I’ve
(1:03:56) given it all out there I’ve said  
to everyone here it is here’s the here’s the 
Playbook if somebody phoned me up from another  
comp and said listen I want to do what you’re 
doing like well I’ll take the phone call I’ll  
explain to them they won’t be able to do exactly 
what we’re doing they’re not going to get Gemini  
as a front of shirt sponsor and Galaxy as a 
sponsor and Ledger they’re not going to those  
things aren’t going to happen they’re not going 
to have bitcoiners fly from all around the the 
(1:04:17) world to their ground um there are 
four other Bitcoin clubs now I’ve spoken to all  
of them and they’ve asked for advice and the 
truth is is whilst they Bitcoin clubs we are  
the Bitcoin club and so they can use the benefit 
of power of Bitcoin but they’re not going to get  
the the community thing that I’ve managed to to 
get it’s just because I went first yeah but but  
if any club says and I’ll be I’ll be saying 
to them you need to get investment you need  
to build a sustainable model and if you have
(1:04:45) Capital left over you need to put  
it in Bitcoin and forget about it you need to be 
thinking about 10 years from now not a year from  
now because that’s what I’m thinking about 
Preston I’m thinking about if we get in the  
football league and we need a 50 million P stadium 
and we want to have a go at the Premier League  
and that’s a 30 million pound wage Bill where do I 
get that from well hopefully it’s my treasury that  
sat there for four Cycles F Lord is this exciting 
stuff it is yeah will you be back oh God yeah you 
(1:05:14) tell me the dates I’d book it like 
that on the spot one other thing that for me  
was uh just amazing to see I’m there watching 
the game I look up and and you’re in the stands  
and and who’s right next to you your son I 
see your dad there at the game I’m leaving  
uh I’m catching a bus to head back into town and 
a Gentleman comes up to me and says oh Preston hi  
blah blah blah I’m Pete’s brother and and I have 
a conversation with your brother and for me it  
was just so amazing and just speaks to you your
(1:05:50) family the town like the whole bit of  
it um I don’t know there so much more than that 
because it’s real community and so that you’ve  
got Emma her son Sebastian’s there he always 
helps there mark who’s a local bitcoiner he  
comes to every game and sells the merch for us 
Jim behind the bar Karen behind the bar there  
Al everyone is so invested in this personally 
and emotionally and people just want to help  
and be part of it it’s a family and it was just 
it was really inspirational just very simply it 
(1:06:23) was very inspirational to see and to 
just experience and uh I don’t know man uh you’re  
you’re a close friend of mine and I just can’t 
thank you enough for bringing me out to Bedford  
because I had a blast and this was an amazing 
conversation so thanks for making time well I’m  
one grateful for coming on your show you know 
I love your show and just appreciate you coming  
out I knew you were having a good time I could 
see it there was a moment there was a moment  
at the football I was from a distance I saw
(1:06:50) you with your Bitcoin uh tattoo  
on your neck can you I remember who you were 
talking to you had this big gr and I was like  
and then I looked around and everyone was GRE I 
was like people are having a good time they’re  
going to come back yeah so thank you Preston I 
appreciate you’re a good friend as well I was I I  
felt bad after the I got back and I took a shower 
and the tattoo was gone it’s gone forever have you  
got no tattoos I have no tattoos let’s get you a 
tattoo next year H Pete uh we’ll have the link for 
(1:07:19) the for the merch anything link to 
your podcast anything else you want to highlight  
or make sure it’s in the show notes uh no just 
the football club promote that and uh just yeah  
appreciate you and thank you again and we’ll see 
you well see you before then but I’ll definitely  
see you in bed for next April yes sir I think 
I heard sailor say you know if it’s good for a  
million it’s good for 10 million if it’s good 
for 10 million is good for 100 million and if  
you take that concept and you start you
(1:07:45) know applying $10 million per  
Bitcoin times 100 you start looking at those 
numbers they’re staggering that is financial  
strength because they have the ability to use 
those assets as collateral to generate a yield

Explore the fusion of football and Bitcoin with Peter McCormack, discussing his club’s success, the impact of new investments, and a Bitcoin conference, all in his hometown of Bedford. 

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:
00:00:00 – Intro
00:07:09 – The strategic role of Bitcoin in advancing the success of a local football club.
00:10:00 – Insights into Peter McCormack’s journey of owning and promoting his football team.
00:15:52 – The impact of high-profile investors like the Winklevoss twins on the club.
00:22:58 – The significant developments in Bedford, including plans for a Universal Studios theme park.
00:28:42 – Highlights from the “Cheat Code” Bitcoin conference and its integration with local businesses.
00:45:01 – How the club manages competitive growth and future challenges with spending caps.
01:00:13 – Lessons on leveraging cryptocurrency in traditional businesses and community development.

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▶️ RELATED EPISODES:
– Michael Saylor’s Deep-Dive on Bitcoin Energy Misconceptions: https://youtu.be/BYk1Id2j7_8
– Bitcoin & Michael Saylor – A Masterclass in Economic Calculation: https://youtu.be/CTA3PKB4PoI
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