Inside the Clase Gambling Scandal: Secrets Threatening to Upend the Athlete Income-Sharing World
Emmanuel Clase’s sudden, indefinite suspension from Major League Baseball isn’t just a nightmare for the Cleveland Guardians—it’s also a major stumbling block for the still-budding concept of athlete income-sharing. The All-Star closer, sidelined amid an MLB inquiry into sports betting, had struck what seemed like a groundbreaking deal last year with Finlete: trading a small slice of his future earnings for upfront cash. Finlete, in turn, sold shares of this potential upside to investors—primarily enthusiastic fans who got perks like exclusive Zoom calls with Clase himself. This wasn’t your typical gamble; it was a fresh way to invest in an athlete’s trajectory. But Clase’s current predicament casts a long shadow over this innovative financial model.
Athlete income-sharing has lingered on the edges of sports business for years, typically aimed at younger players still proving their mettle. So clinching a partnership with Clase—a reliever who’s topped the AL saves charts three years running—felt like a massive win for Finlete and the broader industry. Even Finlete’s CEO, Rob Connolly, was stunned: “How the hell did we land this deal? It’s incredible,” he confessed. The buzz attracted serious venture capital interest, backing by Comcast and Tim Draper included, spotlighting the idea’s enormous potential.
Yet now, Clase’s absence—potentially leading to a lifetime ban if found guilty—throws a wrench into these ambitions. Connolly reassures investors that Clase’s salary keeps flowing while he’s on paid leave, meaning Finlete continues its payouts as anticipated. Still, “all investments, regardless of sector, contain risk,” he admits candidly. The Clase offering is fully SEC-registered, with all hazards transparently disclosed. It’s possible Clase bounces back, signing a lucrative deal and rewarding his investors handsomely. But real-world complications like this dampen the excitement of owning a stake in a player’s success—a “PG version of OnlyFans,” as Connolly colorfully called it—and the investment appetite has been underwhelming so far.
By the end of 2024, Finlete had raised just shy of $16,000 against a lofty $3.6 million target for Clase’s offer, reflecting a tough crowd. Other athlete deals have fared similarly modestly, leading some entrepreneurs to pivot, like Parker Graham of Vestible, who now channels athlete income-sharing into collegiate sports, where funding pressures are more acute and fans hungrier for engagement. Meanwhile, other ventures in this space show mixed signals—with some shuttered operations and legal battles casting further doubt.
Despite the stumbles, Connolly remains optimistic, noting rising platform interest, a growing roster of top prospects, and recent funding milestones. Yet, in this moment, the promise of athlete income-sharing seems to benefit mostly the athletes themselves—able to borrow against their future without payback obligations if things go south. It might just be the safest bet Clase ever made.
Emmanuel Clase’s indefinite leave from Major League Baseball hurt more than just the Cleveland Guardians—it also is another blow to the nascent idea of athlete income-sharing.
The All-Star closer was placed on paid leave last month while the league investigates allegations of sports betting. Last year, Clase stuck a deal with Finlete to trade a sliver of his future baseball income in exchange for an upfront payment. Finlete raised the money for Clase by selling shares to investors—mostly fans who wanted a piece of the player’s upside and some extra perks, like a semi-annual Zoom call with Clase.
Athlete income-sharing has been around in some form for many years, but is typically for young pros who still have to prove themselves. Nabbing Clase, who led the AL in saves in each of the last three seasons, was a coup for Finlete and the industry.
“How the hell did we land this deal? It’s incredible,” Finlete CEO Rob Connolly told Sportico last year.
The deal seemed to fulfil the promise that has drawn venture capital into the idea. Finlete, for instance, has investment from Comcast and VC legend Tim Draper. Now, Clase’s indefinite leave under gambling suspicions—which could result in a potential lifetime ban from MLB if found guilty—has become another hurdle for an idea that has few clear successes.
“We are aware of the MLB investigation involving Emmanuel Clase and, like everyone else, we’re following the league’s process closely,” Connolly said in an email. “While he’s on non-disciplinary paid leave, Clase continues to receive his MLB salary. As long as he is being paid at the Major League level, Finlete will continue to receive its entitled percentage, and dividends will be distributed to investors as scheduled.”
Later, he added: “Obviously, all investments, regardless of sector, contain risk.”
Finlete has done nothing wrong: The Clase offering is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the risks, including suspension and reputational risks from a player’s actions, were disclosed multiple times in the offering document. And it’s possible the pitcher returns to MLB and returns to form and signs a huge contract that rewards Finlete’s investors. But even if that’s the case, the sales pitch of participating in an athlete’s career—Connolly called it a “PG version of OnlyFans”—is less exciting when real world problems muck up the highest-profile opportunity. And it’s already been a tough sell to investors.
According to regulatory disclosures as of the end of 2024, Finlete raised $15,980 out of a goal of $3.6 million for the Clase offering. More recent figures haven’t been disclosed and Finlete’s website says the Clase offering is closed. But a low sales rate isn’t unusual: an earlier offering for Texas Rangers minor league shortstop Echedry Vargas was closed to new investors after raising $78,288 out of a $500,000 goal. It has five minor league baseball player offerings open currently, including one for top-100 prospect Jhostynxon “The Password” Garcia that has a more modest $102,000 goal.
“There are a lot of different—I wouldn’t even say difficulties—hurdles” in athlete income-sharing, said Parker Graham, the co-founder of Vestible, another income-sharing venture that raised $600,000 in a deal with NFL player Baron Browning last year. “It just takes a lot of legwork to get an athlete deal done and athletes just don’t have as great a pain point to create the business we wanted to create… Athletes already have money.”
Graham has shut down Vestible’s athlete income-sharing efforts and instead is deploying the idea to collegiate athletic departments, “helping them bridge the [funding] gap with their fans,” he said on a phone call. “You have to raise a certain amount of capital and the only options are donors, bank loans, private equity and bonds. We want to create this system where there’s a fifth option… the pain point [for colleges] is so much more apparent.”
Vestible anticipates announcing its first collegiate partners this autumn, with more in the pipeline, “Power Four to Group of Five and some FCS probably as well.”
Other athlete income-sharing ventures are seeing mixed results. Manse, a French company that launched a U.S. registered offering of $4 million worth of securities backed by a complex calculation of Nick Kyrgios’ social media trends, hasn’t made a post to its English language social media accounts in months, though its Kyrgios securities are still available for sale. Other ventures that pitched athlete deals last year have yet to offer new ones in 2025, and Big League Advantage, the business that suggested splitting income with pros could be a winning strategy, is being sued by its most famous partner, Fernando Tatis Jr., for alleged predatory business practices over the deal they struck when he was still a minor-leaguer.
Connolly, for one, remains bullish on the idea. “Interest in our platform is at an all-time high. We’ve signed 13 exceptional baseball players to-date, three of whom are currently ranked in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100. We’ve exceeded 500 investors and $500K raised on the platform,” he said in an email. “We also recently closed an oversubscribed $1M Angel Round of funding to help propel our growth.”
Still, at the moment, it seems the promise of athlete income-sharing isn’t working out for anyone—except the athletes. “If for some reason they don’t work out, they don’t have to pay this money back,” Connolly said in October. “It’s really a win-win for the athletes.”
It’s possibly the safest bet Clase ever made.
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