Now you can literally invest in an athlete like Arian Foster, as stock in him being offered

(USA Today Sports Images)

This is like fantasy football but to a much different level.

According to the New York Times, Fantex Holdings is going to start offering stocks in athletes, and the value and performance will be tied to their economic success, including contracts, endorsements and appearance fees. When they make money, investors make their cut.

Houston Texans running back Arian Foster will be the first athlete offered through Fantex. There will be an initial public offering for a minority stake in Foster. There will be $10.5 million of stock in Foster's brand available, and the minimum investment is $50. The Times said Fantex hopes to sell stock in other football players, athletes in other sports, pop singers and Hollywood actors. It is a real trading stock being offered offered "pursuant to a registration statement that has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)," according to the Fantex site.

If this all sounds a little strange, just know that the Times said Foster will make $10 million off of this deal.

There will be 1.06 million shares offered according to the Times, and Fantex may cancel the deal if the demand is less than the number of shares being offered. This seems to be trying to capitalize off of the popularity of fantasy football, where owners draft players and benefit from their stats on the field, and the NFL itself. Athletes' salaries and endorsement deals are often large and common knowledge to the public, and perhaps the fans want in on the action as an investor in a particular athlete's brand. The story says Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway is on Fantex's board of directors.

While it is pretty unique, it's impossible to know how investing in an athlete like Foster will pay off for investors. The average career of a NFL running back is fairly short, and the performance of many athletes can suddenly rise or fall. According to the Times, the marketing materials Fantex has made speaks to that uncertainty.

“The offering is highly speculative and the securities involve a high degree of risk,” Fantex says in its marketing materials, according to the Times

“Investing in a Fantex Inc. tracking stock should only be considered by persons who can afford the loss of their entire investment.”

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter.

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