Ever want to coach an NFL quarterback?
RX3 Growth Partners is offering Orange County executives and entrepreneurs the opportunity to coach or catch balls or even try to intercept passes from famous NFL quarterbacks at its fifth annual flag football tournament, scheduled for March 21 at Saddleback College Stadium in Mission Viejo. The catch, so to speak, is to become a sponsor of one of 10 teams.
“You can be a coach or a general manager for a day and have exposure to the players,” RX3 Managing Partner Nate Raabe told the Business Journal.
The tournament in the prior four years has attracted several famous NFL quarterbacks and notable Orange County executives while raising almost $9 million for charities.
While the tournament hasn’t officially announced the 10 quarterbacks at this year’s event, certain to be there will be Aaron Rodgers, who co-founded RX3 along with Raabe and Byron Roth, executive chairman of Roth MKM, the largest investment bank based in Orange County.
In prior years, some of the nation’s most famous QBs have appeared. Last year’s roster included Sam Darnold, whose Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl on Feb. 8. Darnold led his team to a victory in last year’s RX3 Flag Football tournament. Darnold grew up in nearby San Clemente.
Other players who attended last year included Josh Allen, Bryce Young, Joe Flacco, Will Levis, Marcus Mariota, Daniel Jones, Carson Palmer, Kyle Allen, Thomas Rhett, Amon-Ra St. Brown, DK Metcalf, Cooper DeJean, Hollywood Brown, Terrell Owens, Dylan Barbour and Jenna Bandy.
Raabe said it’s too early to confirm who will be attending this year’s event.
RX3’s senior operating partner is Alex Bhathal, co-owner of Newport Beach investment firm Raj Capital and the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.
Brands sponsoring the tourney include Rivian, BYLT, Jackson Family Wines, 805 Brewery and Thread Performance.
Among RX3 brands participating in the tournament are Storyteller Overland, Hydro, Therabody and Truvani.
“RX3 continues to invest behind leading consumer brands with a focus on health, wellness and active lifestyle,” Raabe said.
RX3 Investors/Players
Several of the players at the flag football tournament are also investors in RX3.
RX3, which began in 2018, focuses on “culturally relevant” consumer brands in industries like health, wellness active lifestyle, beauty and pets. The Irvine-based firm has raised more than $200 million to date.
The investment firm has turned the typical model of athletic endorsement on its head. Rather than being paid to endorse a product, athletes who back RX3 often look to invest in the company to get a piece of the equity.
The investment firm’s website says its typical investment is in the $5 million to $7 million range for a company with a revenue run rate of more than $10 million and a pathway to profitability.
Some winning exits have included Nom Nom, a fresh pet food brand acquired by Mars Petcare, and Irvine-based Orgain, an organic nutrition brand providing protein powders and shakes for adults and children. Orgain was reportedly valued at $2 billion in 2022 when Nestlé Health Science acquired a majority stake of the business.
Recent investments include Crunch Fitness, a chain of fitness gyms; Function Health, which provides lab tests to analyze a person’s health; and Truvani, which sells healthy snack bars and protein powders for shakes, among other products.
Aiming for 5K Fans
Last year’s event attracted 3,000; Raabe is aiming for 5,000 this year.
Each team has a quarterback, a coach, an assistant coach and 10 players who rotate into the game on offense and/or defense.
Each game is about 20 minutes on a 40-yard field; the event usually has four games going on simultaneously.
Quarterbacks aren’t rushed but given a few seconds to get rid of the ball or take an “imaginary sack.” Referees in the black-and-white-stripe shirts blow whistles as though it is a real game. There’s no tackling.
Donors who sponsor a team can participate. Individual spots on each team are also up for sale.
A twist this year is that each team must have at least one female player.
“With the growth of women’s flag football, it’s definitely something we want to lean into,” Raabe said.
All the proceeds are donated to charities that the athletes support, such as Rodgers’ Enloe Health, Young’s Young 9 Foundation and Carson Palmer’s Eagle Foundation.
“We want to do a better job of highlighting the charities,” Raabe said. “We don’t pay anybody to attend. Everything we do goes to charity.”
For sponsorship information, contact info@rx3foundation.com For tickets, contact https://feverup.com/m/464073.
