Two-time NBA all-star player Baron Davis has agreed to become the first professional athlete to invest in the fan-owned Bermuda SailGP Team

Having missed out on raising the required capital necessary to take part in Season 4 of Sail GP, the Bernoulli Locke team are now attempting to raise sufficient funds to take to the start line for the next season, with Davis pleased to be among the investors, although it is not know how much he has contributed.

“Investing in culture and having a stake in ownership alongside fans is the strongest way to engage a community,” said Davis, a 13-year NBA veteran who is a recognised entrepreneur exploring the intersection of sports, entertainment and technology.

“As a former professional athlete, it’s empowering to see ownership handed over to the fans.

“It’s an exciting next chapter for the future of sports, and I plan on being active in the ownership community to get the first-ever fan owned SailGP team on the water and racing.”

The new SailGP Team aims to allow fans to both invest in a team and participate as owners (up to 1,950 investors). It aims to use technololgy to lead team governance through a hybrid decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) structure, that allows voting on key proposals, from the name of the team to electing the sporting manager.

To become a shareholder, interested fans must be an accredited investor and can commit from $5,000 to $200,000. The investment is tokenised on the NEAR Protocol to allow for potential liquidity and authentication of ownership. The launch of the Fan Owned SailGP Team is tied to the closing of the transaction.

Bernoulli Locke founder David Palmer is pleased to have Davis on board.

“Baron’s extensive experience nurturing the innovative developments of new technology and athletic accomplishments aligns perfectly with our goal to transform the current state of professional sports team ownership into a unifying opportunity for athletes and fans to create a high-performance competitive team,” Palmer said.

“As we look to further develop the Fan Owned SailGP Team image and unveil more progression along our journey to becoming the 11th SailGP team, Baron will serve as an integral part in the next era of sports ownership.”

Davis has been widely praised for his entrepreneurial work across tech and Web3 sectors since retiring from playing.

His company, Baron Davis Enterprises, has launched businesses including The Black Santa Company, Business Inside the Game (BIG) and More Than Us. His latest venture, SLiC Images, is a photo and video rights management platform that aims to empower athletes-turned-creators through foundational Web3 tools for community engagement.

Through his business ventures, Davis continues his mission of combining creative talent with original publication and production to provide educational and empowering stories that appeal to global audiences of all ages.