"Sport is the greatest equalizer" - How Champions for Good connects top athletes with the business world
Champions for Good is a family-run sports strategy boutique that combines decades of global experience with innovation-driven purpose. With their Athletes Executive Network, the Champions for Good Club, they create a unique ecosystem that connects top athletes with decision-makers from the business world - for sustainable partnerships and real impact.
With coapp, the startup has found a central platform that fits perfectly with their personal, authentic way of working. In this interview, co-founder Jason talks about the challenges faced by top athletes after their careers, the value of genuine encounters and why they deliberately chose a German, GDPR-compliant solution.
"Right from the start, we wanted a solution that met our high standards."
Hi Jason, you come from a background in strategy consulting for sports clubs and leagues. What prompted you to become active yourself?
In our project work, which is inevitably a service, we have realized that we have much greater leverage when we tackle certain topics ourselves. Especially when working with athletes at Olympic level, it became clear that these are all inspiring personalities, world leaders in their sport - whether it's luge, running or other disciplines. But after the Olympics, many of them receive little attention and hardly any support in a functioning ecosystem.
What exactly is the Champions for Good Club?
We offer top athletes a new way into the business world and thus create a very diverse ecosystem. On the other hand, we bring together decision-makers from the business world with an affinity for sport. This creates a network for new projects and encounters based on the values and protagonists of sport. So if an athlete is at the end of their career and looking for an investor, they can meet them at our events.
If you want to get to know companies that would like to involve athletes as speakers or in their company, you will find them here. For the businesses, we create a high-quality and open club at eye level and with new business potential. At the same time, we are purpose-
oriented. We have put together a very diverse group and organize small get-togethers or dinners once or three times a month where the right people come together. Next month, for example, we'll be at Alba Berlin for basketball.
What criteria must members fulfill?
The members from the business world must be active at decision-maker level so that they can actually make decisions that benefit the athletes. We also value openness: only those who talk to us beforehand and show a willingness to embrace openness, diversity and collaboration can join our club. At the end of the day, we are a network for like-minded people who come into contact with each other through sport.
There are two of you doing this as a family business. Isn't that a challenge?
Yes, but a very trusting challenge. One of our big USPs is our personality. Marc has a background in sports sponsorship - he has worked with and for brands such as Mastercard and Adidas. At some point, however, he no longer wanted to focus on the traditional agency business. Instead, we came together to create a sustainable benefit for everyone involved.
There are currently two of us doing this and it is developing very positively. We bring in reinforcements when it makes sense, but we don't want to build up a huge team, we want to remain a direct point of contact on a personal level - for our partners from the B2B sector as well as for the athletes.
"GDPR compliance was crucial for us."
Great, then of course this is the perfect transition to talk about the community: How did you come across coapp?
I actually just did some research and looked at a lot of platforms. GDPR compliance was crucial for us - we wanted a solution that met our high standards right from the start. I'm someone who likes to do things right, or at least always tries to.
I also thought it was great that the founders are personally accessible. This personal touch was crucial for us. I knew that if something went wrong with a large US platform, I would have to fight my way through it forever. With coapp, it was likeable - a company that you can easily reach and with which you can perhaps build even more in the long term.
It seems to me that your business models fit together very well?
Absolutely. When someone goes into business to be there personally for all clients for as long as possible, that's something special. That also applies to us. If you want to have a real exchange, you have to have a genuine interest in our topic.
Can you give me a few examples? What specific opportunities does your company offer?
Athletes can motivate teams internally, retain customers externally and create real added value overall - even without being traditionally sponsored on the jersey. It's incredibly inspiring to simply interact with the athletes. It creates great stories and opportunities. So you can't just think in terms of traditional sponsorship, you have to see the person behind the athlete as a differentiating factor.
An example: When an Olympian joins you for a workshop with a client - even if you are selling a product like screws - it is more exciting than any standard lecture and therefore a clear differentiation. That's the food for thought we want to give.
What exactly do your formats look like?
Our formats are always very personal. You can host a dinner with us in Munich and meet other business members or athletes there. Or we can go to a club or league together, have a get-together and then watch the game - at Alba Berlin, for example, we'll go onto the court after the game and shoot a few baskets.
But you can also initiate your own projects through us. After all, we are a growing pool of successful, like-minded people. If someone says: "I want to put together my own team for the Berlin Marathon", entrepreneurs and athletes can join forces, turn it into a story, design jerseys, support a charity - and create something new together.
Of course, some companies also come to us with the desire to sponsor athletes, but don't yet know exactly how. We then develop a briefing together: budget, goal, idea for use. We can manage this centrally via coapp.
"We use coapp to centralize everything - the events, the communication, the messaging and the community."
Which coapp feature do you use the most for your community?
We use coapp to centralize everything - events, communication, messaging and community. What's particularly nice is that we use technology to make real experiences better. It's not about keeping the community digital, but about promoting real encounters - in real life, in real spaces, with real people. In the end, 85 percent of the true value is created in person.
I see sport as a great equalizer, you can talk to everyone about it. What makes it so special for you as a unifying element?
Sport is indeed very unique. It immediately offers a common topic of conversation, creates a connection and brings values with it. Whether it's padel, soccer or athletics - sport inspires people. We have realized that the values of sport are also lived by our members in business.
We got to know many of our customers, partners and suppliers on the pitch - you get to know their personality and character in a very natural way.
Was there a moment when you realized: This is exactly why we started this?
It's often the little moments. But the best experiences are when you really build relationships - with impressive personalities. One example is Lea Krüger, a fencer from Cologne. An incredibly inspiring personality. She founded the NGO "Mehr als Muskeln" (More than muscles), which promotes the mental health of athletes. Getting to know people like her and working with them on these issues is at the heart of what we do. People like Lea show why we founded Champions for Good: to give athletes a stage that has an impact beyond sport.
