L Catterton and Patricof Co have announced the formation of CHAMP, short for Champion Athlete Managing Partner, a new strategic partnership designed to pursue consumer brand investments where deeply aligned athlete involvement can accelerate growth. More than 250 elite athletes have already partnered with CHAMP as co-owners of portfolio companies, including Cooper Flagg, Kevin Durant, Joe Burrow, Dak Prescott, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Mike Trout, Livvy Dunne, and others across professional basketball, football, baseball, golf, and polo.
CHAMP’s defining characteristic is its athlete ownership model, in which athletes participate directly alongside L Catterton and Patricof Co as co-owners rather than as endorsers or brand ambassadors. This structure is paired with a proprietary Athlete Activation framework designed to create outsized value for portfolio companies. The strategy is particularly oriented toward brands with strong underlying consumer affinity but untapped visibility, where authentic athlete involvement can catalyze awareness, deepen engagement, and unlock new growth avenues.
The formation of CHAMP is the institutionalization of nearly a decade of collaboration between the two firms, which have previously co-invested across brands including Cholula Hot Sauce, Kodiak Cakes, and RealTruck. CHAMP will draw on dedicated resources from both organizations, combining L Catterton’s global infrastructure and consumer investing expertise with Patricof Co’s athlete relationships and activation capabilities. The partnership is intended to complement L Catterton’s existing investment platforms rather than replace them.
Founded in 1989 and headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, L Catterton manages approximately $40 billion of equity capital across private equity, credit, and real estate platforms, with more than 200 investment and operating professionals across 18 offices and more than 300 investments in consumer brands. Patricof Co, founded by Mark Patricof and based in New York, has spent years building trust-based athlete relationships focused on authentic co-ownership models.
KEY QUOTES:
“Consumer behavior is undergoing a profound and secular shift driven by the convergence of culture, technology, and media. Our proprietary research shows that athletes are among the most trusted and influential voices to emerge in this landscape. This partnership reflects a thoughtful extension of L Catterton’s consumer investing approach. By combining our global investment platform and deep understanding of the consumer with Patricof Co’s athlete relationships, CHAMP seeks to execute a distinctive approach to partnering with consumer brands and a systematic framework for translating cultural relevance into sustainable growth while preserving the rigorous investment diligence for which we are known.”
Scott Dahnke, Global CEO, L Catterton
“We have spent years building trust-based relationships with some of the world’s most prominent athletes, and observing that those athletes can drive better outcomes when they have skin in the game. CHAMP is the institutionalization of these collective insights. We believe that partnering with L Catterton, a firm that shares our conviction and brings deep consumer investing experience, enables us to take our demonstrated outcomes to an institutional platform scale.”
Mark Patricof, Founder and CEO, Patricof Co
