Athlete Network
Athlete Network, founded in 1998 and headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, provides UNITE, a white-labeled SaaS platform that U.S. collegiate athletic departments, athletic associations, and national employer partners use to engage current and former college athletes via branded networks covering communications, mentorship, fundraising, and career resources across 90+ institutions and 1M+ athletes.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersKansas City, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Athlete Network does
Athlete Network, LLC is a privately held Overland Park, Kansas-based software company (founded 1998, 51-100 employees) that builds UNITE, a white-labeled SaaS platform purpose-built for collegiate athletics. UNITE is delivered as a progressive web app and deployed by athletic departments, letterwinners clubs, high schools, and national athletic associations as their own branded network (e.g., Penn State's Varsity 'S' Club Network, Rice's S.O.A.R. Network, Air Force's Letterwinners Club, LSU's National L Club, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's College Tennis Alumni Network). The platform centralizes communications, mentorship workflows with automated matching, career resources, fundraising and giving-day tooling, an athlete directory, and Power BI-style reporting dashboards across NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, junior colleges, high school associations, and governing bodies.
The company's primary customer is the U.S. collegiate athletic department, with secondary segments including national sport-governing bodies (ITA), high school associations, and a third-party employer recruiting channel. Revenue is generated through quote-based annual SaaS subscriptions from institutions, subscription or pay-for-access fees from national employer partners (Federated Insurance, Enterprise Mobility, ESPN, Staples, Mohawk, Northwestern Mutual/RPS, Shiftive), optional premium athlete/alumni memberships (e.g., $72.58/year at Air Force), and managed-services revenue from donation processing and giving-day facilitation on the platform. The go-to-market is sales-led enterprise field sales with Calendly-scheduled demos, complemented by content marketing (case studies, SEO, webinars) and PR-driven partnership announcements.
As of June 25, 2025, Athlete Network operates as a portfolio company of Gravyty following an acquisition intended to layer AI-powered fundraising and engagement tooling onto the UNITE platform, serving 90+ partner institutions and approximately 1M+ current and former athletes.
Athlete Network firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Athlete Network
- Legal name
- Athlete Network, LLC
- Website
- https://athletenetwork.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Athlete Network, founded in 1998 and headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, provides UNITE, a white-labeled SaaS platform that U.S. collegiate athletic departments, athletic associations, and national employer partners use to engage current and former college athletes via branded networks covering communications, mentorship, fundraising, and career resources across 90+ institutions and 1M+ athletes.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Athlete Network industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Athletic Engagement Software
- NAICS
- Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (7114), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events (7113)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- College Recruiting & Scholarship Advisory / Athlete Placement (HSADAEAL)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Strength & Conditioning / Athletic Performance Training (HSADAEAB)
Keywords
Where Athlete Network is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Kansas City
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Athlete Network business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- UNITE Software SaaS Subscriptions: Athlete Network licenses its branded UNITE software to collegiate athletic departments, high schools, and athletic associations as a recurring SaaS contract; features include customizable networks, dashboards, resource centers, communication tools, and analytics.
- Employer Recruiting Access: Employer partners (e.g., Federated Insurance, Enterprise Mobility, ESPN, Staples, Mohawk, Northwestern Mutual/RPS Financial Group, Shiftive) pay for access to the athlete resume database and job posting capabilities to recruit current and former college athletes.
- Premium Membership Fees: Optional premium network memberships sold to athletes/alumni (e.g., Air Force Letterwinners Club Network charges $72.58 annually for premium access).
- Fundraising Facilitation & Donation Processing: Platform enables athletic associations to drive giving campaigns, giving days, and donation processing through UNITE, generating transactional/managed-services revenue as clients raise funds via the network.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Quote-based enterprise SaaS pricing for athletic departments and associations |
| Subscription | Annual | Premium athlete/alumni membership at $72.58 per year |
| Other | Annual | Employer partner access (quote-based) |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Athlete Network product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Athlete Network licenses UNITE Software, a white-label, progressive-web-app SaaS platform that collegiate athletic departments, high schools, and athletic associations rebrand as their own athlete network (e.g., Penn State Varsity 'S' Club, Rice Owls S.O.A.R., Air Force Letterwinners Club, LSU National L Club, Syracuse Athlete Network, ITA College Tennis Alumni Network). The platform centralizes athlete directories, automated mentorship workflows, career services, communications, fundraising/giving-day tooling, and 24/7 reporting dashboards, and is delivered to three audiences — Athletics departments, Athletes, and Employers — through a single branded hub.
Product overview
Athlete Network is a single, unified athlete engagement platform rather than a collection of disconnected modules. Its flagship offering is UNITE software, a white-label SaaS that athletics departments, letterwinners clubs, and associations rebrand as their own network (for example, Penn State's Varsity 'S' Club Network, Rice's S.O.A.R. Network, the Air Force Letterwinners Club Network, LSU's National L Club Network, Syracuse University Athlete Network, and the ITA's College Tennis Alumni Network). Three audience-specific experiences sit on top of this core: an Athletics solution for departments and associations, an Athletes solution for current and former college athletes, and an Employers solution for corporate talent acquisition partners. The platform is delivered as a progressive web app and, post the June 2025 acquisition by Gravyty, is positioned to integrate Gravyty's AI-powered fundraising and engagement tooling on top of the UNITE foundation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- UNITE software: Branded athlete engagement software that enables athletics departments, teams, high schools, and associations to centralize, promote, and track the resources and services offered to current and former athletes in a branded athlete network.
Products and services
- Athlete Network Platform Unified athlete engagement software and online community platform connecting current and former college athletes, athletics departments, letterwinners clubs, and employer partners through profiles, networking, career services, content, and branded network hubs.
- UNITE Software White-label, branded SaaS platform that powers each institution's athlete network, providing a centralized hub for services, programs, communications, athlete directory, mentorship workflows, fundraising, careers, resource cards, and 24/7 dashboard reporting for athletics departments, teams, high schools, and associations.
- Athlete Network for Athletes Athlete-side product experience allowing current and former college athletes to create profiles, add interests, connect with their athletic department or association, network with teammates and other athletes, and access athlete-focused resources, career opportunities, and content.
- Athlete Network for Employers Employer-side product giving corporate talent acquisition teams access to a national network of current and former college athletes, supporting national partnerships, co-branded marketing, and direct outreach via Athlete Network staff and career coaches.
Companies that use Athlete Network
Customer profileNamed customers74 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Athlete Network technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature6 records
Athlete Network partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- GravytyflagshipAthlete Network was acquired by Gravyty on June 25, 2025. Gravyty is a provider of AI-powered engagement solutions for higher education. The acquisition aims to integrate Gravyty's fundraising and engagement solutions within Athlete Network's platform, enhancing services for athletic departments and associations.
- Federated InsuranceflagshipNational employer partner. Co-branded marketing efforts enable Federated Insurance to build interest and hire former student-athletes in locations across the country. Per Nick Lower, EVP & COO: 'Thanks to our National partnership and co-branded marketing efforts, we're able to build interest and hire former student-athletes.'
- Enterprise Mobility (Enterprise Holdings)flagshipNational employer partner that recruits former student-athletes. Per Marie Artim, VP Talent Acquisition: 'Enterprise is on pace to triple the amount of hires we've made from this great resource.' Also cited by Kledia Kyser, Corporate Talent Acquisition Manager.
- ESPN (Disney Campus Recruitment)coreEmployer partner that recruits from the Athlete Network member pool. Per Anne Labeaume Coleman, Sr. Manager, Disney Campus Recruitment: 'Athlete Network members are diverse, competitive and driven, exactly what we are looking for at ESPN.'
- StaplescoreEmployer partner recruiting from the Athlete Network member pool. Per Megan Houlker, Sr. Manager of Talent Acquisition: 'Highlighting the Staples brand to candidates who may not know the amazing range of opportunities we offer is huge.'
- Mohawk (Industries)minorEmployer partner; reported two hires within the first month of joining the Athlete Network platform. Per Paul White, Sr. Director of Talent Acquisition: 'This platform is a valuable addition to our recruiting toolbox.'
- Northwestern Mutual (RPS Financial Group)minorEmployer partner recruiting from the Athlete Network. Per Kaitlin Greene, Director of Internship Development & Recruiting Consultant, RPS Financial Group: 'I always find a ton of value in collaborating with Athlete Network!'
- Shiftive (Shift5)minorRecruiting partner leveraging the diversity of the student-athlete talent pool. Per Sarah Henning, Founder: 'No one has keener insight on how to recruit student-athletes than Athlete Network does.'
- Auburn University Harbert College of BusinessminorRecruiting partnership connecting MBA programs with vetted athlete candidates. Per Jim Parrish, Director of MBA Programs: 'We get great candidates from being a part of Athlete Network.'
- SIDEARM SportscorePartnership referenced in a blog post titled 'SIDEARM Sports, Athlete Network Bring Engagement Solution To College Athletics,' indicating joint go-to-market alignment with a major collegiate athletics digital platform provider.
- Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA)flagshipITA partnered with Athlete Network to launch the College Tennis Alumni Network. The ITA, governing body for NCAA D-I, D-II, D-III, NAIA, and JUCO tennis, leverages Athlete Network's employer partners and platform features to engage tennis alumni. Per Dr. Timothy Russell, ITA CEO, and Corey Pegram, Director of Partnerships, Alumni and Membership.
- Higher Education Athletic Conferences (SEC, Big 12, Southern Conference, etc.)coreAthlete Network is recognized across multiple conferences: seventh SEC school (Alabama), seventh Big 12 school (Colorado), first Southern Conference school (UTC). These institutions serve as flagship references for the platform.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Athlete Network competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Teamworks: Teamworks is the dominant operating system for college athletics, providing athlete operations, communications, performance, and engagement software to athletic departments. It is the most directly comparable competitor to Athlete Network's UNITE platform in the same NCAA customer base.
- EverTrue: EverTrue is a leading alumni engagement and fundraising platform for higher education, overlapping directly with UNITE's letterwinner/alumni engagement and giving-day use cases at the same institutional buyers.
- Hivebrite: Hivebrite is a community and alumni engagement platform that powers branded networks for institutions and associations. It is closely comparable to UNITE's white-label, branded-network architecture.
- Graduway: Graduway provides alumni networking, mentoring, and career-engagement software to educational institutions, directly overlapping with Athlete Network's alumni engagement and mentorship workflow.
Emerging players
- PeopleGrove: PeopleGrove powers alumni mentorship, career networking, and donor engagement for universities, directly comparable to UNITE's mentorship workflow and career-services features.
- SIDEARM Sports: SIDEARM Sports powers official athletic websites, apps, and digital fan engagement for college athletics. It is a GTM partner of Athlete Network but overlaps on athletic-department digital engagement budgets and represents a natural adjacent competitor.
- Element451: Element451 is an AI-powered student engagement and CRM platform for higher education, addressing overlapping enrollment and engagement budgets at the same institutional buyers as Athlete Network.
Broad incumbents
- Learfield (Learfield IMG College): Learfield is the dominant college athletics media rights, sponsorship, and multi-platform content company. It touches the same athletic-department budgets and is a broad incumbent with overlapping sponsorship and alumni/athlete engagement ambitions.
- Stack Sports: Stack Sports provides a suite of sports technology platforms across registration, payments, websites, and engagement. It competes for the same college and youth athletic-organization software spend as Athlete Network.
- Gravyty: Gravyty, now Athlete Network's parent company, provides AI-powered fundraising and engagement tools for higher education. It is the most strategically adjacent peer given the June 2025 acquisition.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Athlete Network social profiles
Digital presenceAthlete Network compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Athlete Network financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Athlete Network leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Athlete Network funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Athlete Network M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Athlete Network
What does Athlete Network do?
Athlete Network licenses UNITE Software, a white-label, progressive-web-app SaaS platform that collegiate athletic departments, high schools, and athletic associations rebrand as their own athlete network (e.g., Penn State Varsity 'S' Club, Rice Owls S.O.A.R., Air Force Letterwinners Club, LSU National L Club, Syracuse Athlete Network, ITA College Tennis Alumni Network). The platform centralizes athlete directories, automated mentorship workflows, career services, communications, fundraising/giving-day tooling, and 24/7 reporting dashboards, and is delivered to three audiences — Athletics departments, Athletes, and Employers — through a single branded hub.
Is Athlete Network a public or private company?
Athlete Network is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was Athlete Network founded?
Athlete Network was founded in 1998. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Athlete Network based?
Athlete Network is headquartered in Kansas City, United States, in the North America region.
How does Athlete Network make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. UNITE Software SaaS Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are employer Recruiting Access, premium Membership Fees and fundraising Facilitation & Donation Processing.
Who are Athlete Network's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Teamworks, EverTrue, Hivebrite and Graduway. Emerging players are PeopleGrove, SIDEARM Sports and Element451. Broad incumbents are Learfield (Learfield IMG College), Stack Sports and Gravyty.
Does Athlete Network have an API?
No public API is recorded for Athlete Network.
What industry is Athlete Network in?
Athlete Network's product category is Athletic Engagement Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HSADAEAL, College Recruiting & Scholarship Advisory / Athlete Placement, with a secondary code of HSADAEAB, Strength & Conditioning / Athletic Performance Training. Its NAICS code is 7114 and its SIC code is 8600.