LOS ANGELES -- For the past few years, the sports world has been entrenched in the concept of the fan living out his or her fantasy as the general manager, from the classic fantasy sports leagues to the flash in the pan that is daily fantasy sports.
Enter Bernie Nicholls, former Los Angeles Kings hockey player who to this day still holds the franchise record for most goals scored in a season (70). To put that in perspective, this season's leader in goals scored was forward Tyler Toffoli with 31.
Nicholls spent two decades in the NHL with the Kings, New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks. He was drafted by the Kings in 1980, and spent the majority of his career with them.
Nichols was a part of the team that acquired Wayne Gretzky and fondly remembers the fourm filled with over 12,000 fans dedicated and excited fans as the hockey movement in Los Angeles grew in the mid-80s.
Now Nicholls, along with Ace Underhill, Chris Rabalais and Zack Ward, are trying to introduce the concept of fans feeling like the owners of their favorite team by inventing a sports stock market.
“The concept is brilliant,” Nicholls said in a phone interview.
Nicholls’ company, AllSportsMarket recently launched a real money MLB sports market in time for Spring Training.
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The starting rate for team shares is $2.50. There is a limited amount of shares within a team so once a team is out of shares you might have to strike a deal with someone who has the stock you’re looking for.
AllSportsMarket received their first approved patent from China on their Sports Risk Index, a patented formula takes into account such variables as attendance, TV ratings, and other publicly available economic data to calculate the SRI for the sports entity.
As of now, the sports stock market is independent of the very pro leagues that fans take great interest too. Nicholls said there is a huge desire for a partnership between AllSportsMarket and the leagues similar to Fan Duel and Draft Kings, even to the point of giving those leagues “free money” for promotion and credibility.
“It makes it better for us to have the leagues with us,” Nicholls said.
A great example would be investing stock in a sports team would be the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings have clinched a playoff spot and a Stanley Cup run would be their third championship in the last five years.
If a certain sports fan were to have stock on the Kings, Nicholls has good news. Two reasons why is head coach Darryl Sutter, who Nicholls calls “the Bill Belichick of the NHL” and goalie Jonathan Quick, who “has the body of an NFL linebacker” and can get hot like he has in the last two Stanley Cup runs.
“Every sports fan will feel like they have a piece of their team,” Nicholls said.
Nichols wishes the Kings luck on their journey to win a third Stanley Cup Trophy in five years. The Kings will host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night at Staples Center in Game 2 of the first round of the NHL Playoffs.
Enid News and Eagle's Tony Capobianco contributed to this story.
