Key Takeaways
- CHAMP targets a $500 million raise, with athletes already committing more than 10 percent of the fund, according to the Financial Times via Sportico.
- The partnership pairs L Catterton’s roughly $40 billion consumer investing platform with Patricof Co’s network of more than 250 professional athletes.
- Named partners include Cooper Flagg, Azzi Fudd, Livvy Dunne, Tyrese Haliburton, Mike Trout, Dak Prescott, and Kevin Durant’s 35 Ventures.
- Prior L Catterton and Patricof Co co-investments include Cholula Hot Sauce, Kodiak Cakes, and RealTruck.
- The structure puts athletes in equity positions rather than traditional endorsement roles.
A Fund Built on Ownership, Not Endorsement
L Catterton and Patricof Co announced on April 23 the formation of CHAMP, short for Champion Athlete Managing Partner, a strategic partnership aimed at consumer brands that can benefit from athlete involvement. The defining feature is ownership. Athletes participate directly alongside both firms as co-owners of portfolio companies rather than as paid spokespeople. More than 250 professional athletes have already signed on, per the announcement.
Sportico reported the fund is targeting $500 million, with athlete commitments already exceeding 10 percent of that figure based on Financial Times reporting.
The Roster
The athlete lineup spans the major U.S. pro leagues and extends into NIL-era talent. The NBA contingent includes Tyrese Haliburton, Cade Cunningham, and 2025 No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg. WNBA partners include Cameron Brink, Sophie Cunningham, and Azzi Fudd. The NFL group features Dak Prescott, Ja’Marr Chase, Joe Burrow, and Justin Jefferson. MLB involvement includes Mike Trout, Bobby Witt Jr., Corbin Carroll, Logan Webb, and Tarik Skubal. Also on the roster: Patrick Cantlay, Nacho Figueras, Livvy Dunne, and Kevin Durant’s 35 Ventures.
The mix is notable because it combines established superstars with younger athletes whose platforms grew through college NIL deals and social media, extending the investor base across both traditional sports audiences and Gen Z consumers.
The Firms Behind CHAMP
L Catterton manages approximately $40 billion in equity capital across private equity, credit, and real estate, with more than 200 professionals across 18 offices. The firm was founded in 1989, has made over 300 investments in consumer brands, and writes checks ranging from $5 million to $5 billion. Sportico notes the firm is backed by LVMH.
Patricof Co was founded in 2018 by Mark Patricof, who launched the firm with $200 million in co-investment capital from JP Morgan Private Equity Group, according to Sportico. The firm advises professional athletes on private market investing, with past deals including Bombas, Daily Harvest, and SpaceX.
Prior Co-Investments and the Thesis
The two firms have co-invested for nearly a decade, with shared portfolio companies including Cholula Hot Sauce, Kodiak Cakes, and RealTruck. CHAMP formalizes that relationship into a dedicated platform with a defined athlete activation framework.
In the announcement, Patricof said his firm has spent years building trust-based relationships with elite athletes and observed that those athletes can drive better outcomes when they have skin in the game. That thesis, that equity alignment beats endorsement alignment, sits at the center of the CHAMP model.
What Young Athletes Can Take From the CHAMP Model
CHAMP is built for pros, but the lessons it surfaces are relevant for the small sliver of high school and college athletes on a trajectory toward meaningful NIL or professional earnings. The model makes a clear statement about how the next generation of athlete wealth gets built, and it is worth unpacking for the youth sports operators, parents, and advisors working with that 1 percent.
First, the structure rewards equity over cash. Athletes in CHAMP are co-owners, not paid faces. Livvy Dunne and Azzi Fudd, both still early in their careers, are modeling a path where the goal is not the largest check for a social post but a stake in the business behind the post. Young athletes earning NIL income today are often steered toward transactional deals. CHAMP signals that the athletes building long-term balance sheets are trading short-term endorsement dollars for ownership where possible.
Second, the roster shows what a professionalized investment network looks like. Patricof Co has spent nearly a decade building the trust and infrastructure to pool athlete capital into institutional-grade deals. For a high school athlete with legitimate pro potential, the takeaway is that access to this type of platform does not happen by accident. It requires financial literacy, a surrounding team, and a willingness to treat the business side with the same seriousness as the competitive side. Programs and advisors working with elite youth athletes have an opening to introduce these concepts early rather than waiting until a signing bonus arrives.
Third, the athletes on the CHAMP roster built the audiences that made them investable before they needed to monetize them. Cooper Flagg, Fudd, and Dunne all arrived at the pro and NIL level with existing followings cultivated through years of high school and college coverage. Consumer brands partnering with CHAMP are effectively buying access to audiences that were built during the youth sports years. For the small group of athletes on that trajectory, the CHAMP model is a reminder that platform building is part of the long-term financial picture, not a distraction from it.
For youth sports operators, the practical implication is that the families and athletes at the top of the competitive pyramid are increasingly thinking about careers as businesses earlier than ever. Facilities, clubs, and training brands working with that cohort should expect more sophisticated questions about equity, sponsorship structures, and long-term alignment, not just playing time and exposure.
Source: Sportico, Justin Birnbaum, April 23, 2026, https://www.sportico.com/business/commerce/2026/patricof-co-l-catterton-form-strategic-partnership-champ-1234891011/
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