March 26, 2019
IPOs: Are You Ready for Some (Fantasy) Football?
I recently stumbled upon Reg A filings for a bunch of fantasy football teams that are part of a national fantasy football league that’s supposed to kick-off this fall. Here’s the Form 1-A Offering Statement filed by the “Philadelphia Powderkegs” – and this excerpt from the filing tells you what they’re up to:
Philadelphia Powderkegs, Inc. is one of 12 Delaware corporations formed to represent teams (each a “Team” or collectively, “Teams”) in a national fantasy sports football league (“The Crown League”) which is to be operated by The Crown League, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“CRL”), the managing member and substantial owner of which is CrownThrown, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“CrownThrown”). CRL intends to launch the first publicly owned, professionally managed, national fantasy sports league.
CRL has two classes of membership interests: 49.992% of the membership and voting interests are controlled by the Class A members, all of which are held, in equal amounts, by us and the additional 11 companies that anticipate competing in The Crown League (in other words, each company Team will initially own 4.166% of the interests in CRL), and the remaining 50.008% of membership interests in CRL will be held by the Class B members of CRL, approximately 90% of which is currently held by CrownThrown.
Here are the other teams that filed Form 1-As with the SEC:
Atlanta Hot Wings Los Angeles Drive
Chicago Hogmollies Seattle Emerald Haze
Denver Moguls Sin City Bad Babies
Florida Mangos Wild Texas Holy Smokers
New England Cape Gods
I instantly became a fan of the “Florida Mangos Wild” – do you see what they did there? According to the league’s fairly slick website, they also have a “franchise” representing New York, with the location of a 12th franchise to be determined.
Anyway, If you think this entire blog is just an excuse for me to brag about how my team – “Full Metal Jarvis” – won my fantasy football league’s championship this season, well. . . you’re right.
ESG: Banging the Drum for More Disclosure
This recent article from The Center for Executive Compensation reviews the multi-pronged efforts at requiring more disclosure from public companies on ESG issues. And as this excerpt points out, Congress may be getting into the game:
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee published the Committee’s hearing schedule for March, and in addition to already-announced priorities, of particular note is a March 26 subcommittee hearing on “Building a Sustainable and Competitive Economy” which will focus on “proposals to improve environmental, social, and governance disclosures.”
The topic is not surprising given the increased interest in ESG information by both large investors — primarily the large index funds such as BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street — as well as the push for greater disclosures by investors with a specific advocacy bent. As we reported last month, a recent Morrow-Sodali study found that investors seek greater information on corporate culture, climate change and human capital metrics.
The memo also cites a recent WSJ report that says shareholder proposals asking companies to produce climate change disclosures are expected to jump to 75 or more in 2019 from 17 in 2018.
Our “Proxy Disclosure Conference”: Early Bird Ends April 5th
As the 20% discount ends soon – April 5th – act now using this registration information for our popular conferences – “Proxy Disclosure Conference” & “16th Annual Executive Compensation Conference” – to be held September 16-17th in New Orleans and via Live Nationwide Video Webcast. Here are the agendas – 20 panels over two days.
Among the panels are:
– The SEC All-Stars: A Frank Conversation
– Hedging Disclosures & More
– Section 162(m) Deductibility (Is There Really Any Grandfathering)
– Comp Issues: How to Handle PR & Employee Fallout
– The Top Compensation Consultants Speak
– Navigating ISS & Glass Lewis
– Clawbacks: #MeToo & More
– Director Pay Disclosures
– Proxy Disclosures: 20 Things You’ve Overlooked
– How to Handle Negative Proxy Advisor Recommendations
– Dealing with the Complexities of Perks
– The SEC All-Stars: The Bleeding Edge
– The Big Kahuna: Your Burning Questions Answered
– Hot Topics: 50 Practical Nuggets in 60 Minutes
– John Jenkins