Collectibles investment company Rally announced Thursday it will offer 47,000 shares of Mickey Mantle’s childhood home on its platform for $7 apiece. Here’s what you need to know:
- This marks the company’s first fractional ownership offering in a piece of real estate. Investors will get to make proposals and vote on the property’s future, which could include turning it into a museum, a national landmark or a baseball diamond added to the backyard for local little leagues, the company said in a release.
- The former home of the Yankees legend — who famously wore No. 7 during his career — is located off Route 66 in Commerce, Okla.
- Last August, a rare 1952 Topps rookie card of the Hall of Famer sold at auction for a record-breaking $12.6 million.
- Rally’s initial public offering opens Oct. 27 at 12 p.m. ET, making 47,000 shares available at $7 per share for a total offering of $329,000.
What to make of the offering
I’ve never used Rally or Collectable or any of the fractional shares apps out there. But I just signed up in anticipation of this sale. A couple of weeks ago, Topps’ Bob Ross-inspired set shut down the site and sold out immediately. I feel like shares of Mantle’s house will have a similar fate. I’d buy shares, but I’m guessing I’ll get shut out — anything Mantle is a hot commodity, but owning a piece of his house is a deeply personal and very limited-feeling experience. Plus, plans to possibly Airbnb it or even sell it to someone else at a higher price are really at the heart of Rally. For me, it would be like the mid-90s “own a star” phenomenon — a cool experience that I would like a framed certificate of (and, of course, it would be for me and not an adolescent attempt at impressing then-girlfriends). For someone else, the business idea would be to turn that $7 into $21-25.
The main caveat? Rally was vague when ESPN inquired about any tax responsibility for the fractional owners. But by the time their three- to five-year estimate on that comes, my hunch is that house will be long flipped for profit. — Ferdinando Di Fino, fantasy and sports betting managing editor
What they’re saying
“From day one, we recognized that our first real estate offering on Rally needed to have major historical significance,” Rob Petrozzo, Rally’s co-founder and chief product officer, said in a release. “When sourcing potential assets, we always look closely at each property’s backstory and provenance. Mickey Mantle’s childhood home immediately stood out as the perfect option, aligning with the personal passions of our investor community.”
Required reading
(Photo: Sports Studio Photos / Getty Images)
