The three-time Super Bowl Champion harnessed his coffee obsession into a business opportunity with the most recent addition to his bustling business portfolio.
As if leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a second straight Super Bowl title, their third in five years, wasn’t enough for Patrick Mahomes, he was also instrumental in starting a business from scratch during the course of the 2023 season.
As the lead investors, Mahomes and former BodyArmor executive Michael Fedele launched Throne Sport Coffee on Thursday, a ready-to-drink iced coffee brand combining natural caffeine, flavors, and sweeteners with B vitamins, electrolytes and BCAAs.
In addition to attending numerous departmental and developmental meetings, the 28-year-old three-time Super Bowl MVP and two-time NFL MVP had sample bottles of coffee sent to his house every two to four weeks last year, providing feedback and helping the Throne Sport team adjust and formulate a tasty, healthy beverage with mass appeal to compete in a crowded market.
“There were a lot of samples sent and the season worked out well,” Mahomes told Boardroom. “We won the Super Bowl, so it must have worked. We’ve come up with a great product and I think people will really enjoy them throughout the entire day, not be jittery and not be sluggish after the coffee starts wearing down a little bit.”
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Mahomes’ partnership with the brand was organic. The self-described avid coffee drinker uses the beverage as fuel for the long days of the NFL season. His four cups per day were mainly black coffee that was just sitting around on the pot all day. Although there were a number of grab and go options available on the market, a quick review showed that they were what Fedele considered to be “coffee milkshakes,” packed with sugar and calories. Meanwhile, several people were looking to the beverage to help them find the energy needed to level up their workouts.
So when Fedele came to Mahomes with an idea for a healthy, ready-to-drink cold coffee, the concept instantly clicked for the QB. As he thought through the opportunity, it made sense to the football superstar as not just a product he’d lend his likeness to, but something he wanted to put his money, passion, and energy behind. Mahomes proceded to join the venture as lead investor, showcasing his commitment in a wide variety of ways as the company grew.
“I am so detailed with all the stuff that I put in my body, and as an athlete you have to be,” Mahomes said. “You want to know what can make you perform the best. So when Michael gave me this idea, I wanted to make sure that I could really be in those meetings and describe how I felt after I drank the samples, how I felt throughout the day, and how it helped get the best out of myself.”
After extensive testing and iteration, the product is officially headed to market. Throne Sport is available nationwide at at Casey’s, Hy-Vee, Amazon and SPORTCOFFEE.com and comes in four flavors; Mocha Java, Salted Caramel, French Vanilla, and Black.
Stay tuned for a deeper dive with Mahomes on his evolution as an entrepreneur, how his investing helped the Chiefs on the field, and so much more in an upcoming edition of my Inside The Boardroom newsletter. Subscribe today!
