• Loading stock data...
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
exclusive
Deals

Community-Backed ‘Crown League’ Rebrands as ‘Hall of Fantasy League’

  • Now owned by the Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company, the league plans to hold its first draft in summer 2021.
  • Activations will include a ‘Hall of Trivia on HQ’ weekly game before ‘TNF.’
Community-Backed ‘Crown League’ Rebrands as ‘Hall of Fantasy League’
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Crown League, the first community-backed fantasy football league, is rebranding as the “Hall of Fantasy League” after its acquisition by the Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company, which is developing the Pro Football Hall of Fame site. 

The league will feature 10 regionally-based teams run by sports professionals, from Hall of Fame players, to former NFL front office personnel, to sports media personalities, likely to be finalized in the first half of next year. 

“It’s a really exciting opportunity for us. When you’re a startup company, attaching yourself to a legitimate entity like a Hall of Fame Village can really change your offering in a big way,” HOFL founder Mat Sposta said. “The ability to integrate the brands and marks into our content, the ability to integrate some of the players into our gameplay and our offering, the ability to leverage the Hall of Fame Village property in Canton for activations and our annual draft, really give us this new opportunity and tap into this new community and new world of individuals”

The league envisions local activations and live events taking place in the named regions once COVID-19 restrictions allow for it, and could also use talent or former players from specific regions to encourage participation.

“All of that coming together will essentially drive engagement at the local level, but there’s going to be many individuals who are opportunistic, who say, ‘I don’t care if this is my local team, I’m going to pick the best team or I’m going to pick the best manager to back,’” Sposta said. 

Each team will have a “pretty significant” buy-in to the league, and fans will participate through staking — the practice of selling a piece of interest in a team and paying out the corresponding upside in the case of a win. Stakeholders will be able to offer input on roster moves and communicate directly with their teams’ front offices and others who have bought stakes. 

“What this does is this allows me to own a piece of a professional franchise that’s being managed by experts. And it gets me to share in my fun and excitement in fantasy with other individuals who are playing,” Sposta said. “So for the first time ever, we’re bringing communities together in the fantasy world, and they’ll be able to chat, strategize, collaborate with each other, as well as with the professionals, with the fantasy experts, all on our digital app.” 

When the league was initially announced in 2019, the team valuations were set to start at $5 million, with 100,000 $50 shares initially available. The launch was pushed to 2020 due to a “hiccup on the financing,” Sposta said, and then to 2021 due to the acquisition process.

The league’s first draft is now expected to take place in the summer of 2021, in time to kick off operations for the 2021 NFL season.  

For the Hall of Fame Village — which has aspirations to create its own media content from its free agent training camp, among other things — the fantasy league provides yet another option. 

“We’re having discussions around the opportunity to leverage some of our fantasy experts and talent for content and media opportunities like developing a weekly podcast,” Sposta said. 

Along with the rebranding, the HOFL also has a new partnership with the once-viral app HQ Trivia to launch “Hall of Trivia on HQ,” a weekly football, fantasy and sports-themed trivia show hosted by journalist Jeff Eisenband.

The show will debut ahead of “Thursday Night Football” on Oct. 22. 

When HQ approached the fantasy league’s team, they thought it was a “great opportunity to tap into a new audience.”

“I think the trivia game audience has a very interesting connection with the gaming audience, whether it’s sports bettors, or fantasy players, or gamers, and the ability to create a show that’s built around sports and to talk about things that are relevant in the fantasy season, in the football season,” Sposta said. “I think it’s going to get a lot of people excited. It’s going to attract new audiences to them. And at the same time it’s going to raise awareness and exposure for our brand.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

exclusive

WNBA’s Fire Prematurely Announce Head Coach Hire on LinkedIn

Portland is expected to hire Alex Sarama from the Cavaliers, FOS confirmed.
Micah Parsons
exclusive

NFL Scorigami Creator Blames Glitches on Twitter Platform Changes

The bot has been glitching all NFL season, and fans have noticed.
exclusive

Max Kellerman to Call TKO’s Zuffa Boxing on Paramount

Kellerman called the Canelo Álvarez–Terence Crawford fight in September.
Patrick Kraft
exclusive

Penn State, Adidas Deny Wrongdoing Around $300M Apparel Deal

The school and the brand publicly defended their 10-year deal Saturday.

Featured Today

Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) celebrates with her teammates after her last second shot to take the lead 90-88 against the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix on Oct. 8, 2025.
exclusive

Standoff Over WNBA’s Future Has Dominated Finals

CBA negotiations have stolen the spotlight from the Aces’ dominant performance.
Paul Cartier
October 5, 2025

Sports Organists Are Still Thriving in the Era of Raucous Arena Music

“When they walk out and they see a real organ guy, it’s like, ‘Wow.’”
Sep 27, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Jackson Chourio (11) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the sixth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at American Family Field.
October 4, 2025

Milwaukee Moneyball: Brewers Are Beating MLB’s Deeper Pockets

Milwaukee is holding its own against big-budget competitors.
Kōloa Rum Company Rum Rusher
September 27, 2025

Panthers Bubbly, Jets Wine, Manning Whiskey: The Sports Booze Boom

A sommelier dives into the sports booze trend—and tries Jets wine.
Louisville’s Miller Moss and several of his teammates stopped by Olympus Gaming Lounge to play EA Sports College Football 26 with fans for a meet and greet. July 11, 2025

Saudis, Silver Lake, Jared Kushner Take EA Private in $55B Deal

Electronic Arts makes “Madden,” “EA Sports College Football,” and more.
Apr 26, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet (5) before game three of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center.
June 25, 2025

Rockets Get $20 Million in Wiggle Room From New VanVleet Deal

VanVleet first signed with the Rockets in 2023.
July 6, 2025

American Celebs Want to Be Sports Owners. Soccer Is Where They Start

As U.S. team prices climb, investors set their sights abroad.
Sponsored

How Jenny Just Is Shaping the Future of Sports Ownership

Jenny Just on bringing her investment experience to sports ownership.
June 24, 2025

Timberwolves’ 4-Year Ownership Saga Ends As A-Rod, Lore Take Over

The unanimous approval brought a clean end to a long-disputed transaction.
April 20, 2025

Max Verstappen Linked to $300M Aston Martin Deal Ahead of Miami GP

Aston Martin is currently seventh in the constructors championship.
March 27, 2025

Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions Gets PE Boost

The Hall of Famer’s company gains another prominent backer.
March 20, 2025

High School Sports Power Signs Eight-Figure Rights Deal in First

The deal pays roughly $1 million annually, FOS has learned.