Earlier this year, Billy McFarland said he was selling some of the IP and trademarks of his infamous Fyre Fest to a purported entrepreneur named Shawn Rech, who was planning to use the disgraced Fyre name to launch a music streaming service. Unlike most things Fyre Fest, it looks like that deal went through, but other Fyre ventures are not faring well as usual.
McFarland announced Monday that the supposed seven-figure deal to purchase the rest of the Fyre operation fell through without any additional explanation. The upside to that, as he framed it, is that "the opportunity to own the Fyre brand is back on the table." And that isn't exclusive to finance bros -- it goes for anyone who has an eBay account.
"I've done a lot of crazy things, but this might be the craziest thing yet," McFarland said in an Instagram video today, which is rich. "Today I am taking the most famous festival brand, Fyre Festival, and putting it up for auction on eBay, starting at one cent. We've had over 1,000 offers for the Fyre brand, but I am done playing games." Then he started spewing a bunch of business jargon that I don't really care about, and I doubt you do either. The point is: Anyone, in theory, can now own Fyre Festival and do whatever they want with that name.
You can see the eBay listing here. It'll get you full access to the brand name, registered trademarks and IP, social media accounts, marketing assets, and Fyre festival domains, with current carve-outs for a theater project, a TV platform, and music streaming platform that's launching independently thanks to McFarland's deal with Rech.
As I write this, there are 71 bids on the Fyre Festival brand, with the current auction price at $50,200. I hope McFarland isn't trying to break even, because he's got a long way to go before he can pay back the $26 million he said he still owes to the initial Fyre investors.
Amid all this, McFarland continues to drop hints that he might attempt another Fyre Fest. At least he knows how to commit to the bit.
@danieltosh fyre festival #toshshow #danieltosh #fyrefestival ♬ original sound - daniel tosh
