Key Points
- The CHAMP fund, a joint venture between L Catterton and Patricof Co, invested nearly $50 million for a minority stake in Rhoback.
- More than 250 athletes — including Dak Prescott, Joe Burrow, Tyrese Haliburton, Kevin Durant, and Cooper Flagg — committed over $50 million of their own capital to the $500 million fund.
- Rhoback, founded by UVA Darden alumni in 2016, surpassed $150 million in revenue in 2025 and has been profitable since inception.
- This is Rhoback's first outside capital raise and CHAMP's first portfolio investment.
The athlete-investor playbook just got its biggest chapter. CHAMP — Champion Athlete Managing Partner, a joint venture between LVMH-backed private equity firm L Catterton and athlete advisory firm Patricof Co — has invested nearly $50 million for a minority stake in activewear brand Rhoback. It is CHAMP's first portfolio investment out of a $500 million fund, and Rhoback's first outside capital in a decade of existence.
The fund
CHAMP launched in April 2026 with a roster of more than 250 athletes who collectively committed over $50 million of their own capital — more than 10% of the fund's target. The named investors span leagues: Dak Prescott and Joe Burrow from the NFL, Tyrese Haliburton, Cade Cunningham, and Cooper Flagg from the NBA, Cameron Brink and Azzi Fudd from the WNBA, Mike Trout and Bobby Witt Jr. from MLB, Kevin Durant through 35 Ventures, and gymnast Livvy Dunne. L Catterton handles deal sourcing and operations; Patricof Co manages the athlete relationships.
Why Rhoback
Rhoback was founded in 2016 as a class project at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business by Kevin Hubbard, Kristina Loftus, and Matthew Loftus. It makes performance polos and activewear designed to move between the golf course, the gym, and everyday wear — the kind of clothes its athlete investors already live in. The brand surpassed $150 million in revenue in 2025, projects more than $200 million in 2026, and has been profitable since day one. It has shipped more than 3.5 million orders to over two million customers, all without a dollar of outside capital until now. It opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Charlottesville in late 2025.
What changes
The investment will fund Rhoback's expansion beyond its direct-to-consumer roots: more retail locations, an accelerating wholesale business, and a collegiate licensing operation that was among the first to move aggressively on NIL partnerships. The co-founders retain control of the business.
The read
CHAMP is the latest structure to formalize what has been happening informally for years: athletes deploying capital, not just lending their names. The difference here is scale and alignment. These athletes are not endorsing Rhoback for a fee — they are co-investors in a fund that owns a stake, meaning their returns depend on the brand's performance. L Catterton, co-owned by LVMH and Bernard Arnault's family holding company, brings the consumer PE infrastructure; the athletes bring distribution and cultural credibility that no marketing budget can replicate. For a brand that grew to $150 million without outside help, the bet is that CHAMP's network can push it into the next tier without breaking what worked.
Source: Yahoo Finance, WWD
Comments