Athlete Network, a social network for collegiate, professional, and everyday athletes, has launched a new partnership with the United States Olympic Committee. The athlete funded online community will provide the USOC’s Athlete and Career Education (ACE) program with a customized online career network for America’s elite Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
The three-year contract will allow more than 8,000 current and former Olympic athletes to join the startup’s growing membership. Athlete Network already has over 200,000 thousand members worldwide and has set the goal of reaching 2 million members by 2019.
Through this deal, Athlete Network will build a private and customized networking platform for ACE. The tech company will leverage its existing software to design the career site, and it will also allow ACE athletes to switch between the Athlete Network’s software and their own customized platform.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the USOC’s ACE program and help them provide their athletes with career advancement opportunities upon the completion of their Olympic and Paralympic Careers,” said Chris Smith, Athlete Network’s Founder & CEO.
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This partnership represents a major coup for Athlete Network as it aims to grow its business and increase its membership members. “It’s huge,” continued Chris Smith. “We believe that the more marquee clients that we’re associated with, the more it validates the why and need of our business. We have a very member acquisition strategy, and especially in the athletic community, athletes want to meet the best,” he explained.
Beyond thrilled to formally announce our agreement with the U.S. Olympic Committee! https://t.co/GkTLyYkPxX #TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/eXIcqaiQu8
— Athlete Network (@AthleteNet) July 28, 2016
Furthermore, thanks to this new deal, the tech startup has already attracted interest from Olympic committees from across the world, as they seek to create a similar service platform.
The USOC is also thrilled to have managed to secure the partnership with Athlete Network: “It is the ACE program’s goal to ensure we offer comprehensive career and education services aimed at enhancing performance and personal development to both current and retired Team USA athletes,” said Leslie Klein, Director of Athlete Career & Education Services for the USOC.
Athlete Network has grown consistently since we covered covered its launch in April of 2015 and that’s due not only to its proprietary algorithm “Athletic Quotient” but also because of its ability to attract and connect former and current athletes and create networking opportunities that are unavailable anywhere else online. Hopefully it will be able to deliver great service to the ACE program as well.