Pro Athletes Outreach

What Pro Athletes Outreach does

Pro Athletes Outreach (PAO) is a faith-based nonprofit ministry founded in 1971 and headquartered in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, that serves professional athletes and their spouses across multiple major sports leagues, including the NFL, MLB, NHL, Basketball, Soccer, and Hockey. Its mission is to unite a community of pro athletes and couples to grow as disciples of Jesus and positively impact their spheres of influence. The organization delivers this mission through a portfolio of annual sports-specific conferences (Increase Conference, Increase Together, Increase Gathering, plus league-specific events), seasonal Bible studies, women's gatherings via The Increase Women (TIW) program, local events, and a recurring content/resource called The Increase.

PAO operates with 11-50 employees and is funded primarily through voluntary donations, with a dedicated giving page citing Matthew 6:21 and a merchandise store at theincrease.com providing a supplementary channel. Its technology stack is light and third-party-dependent: the website is built on SnapPages, event registration is handled via Cvent, donations flow through TFA Forms, and ongoing community engagement is supported by a Fluro-based mobile app with in-app group communication. There is no proprietary technology platform, no AI/ML capability, and no API or SDK offering — the organization is best understood as a ministry operator running recurring programming rather than a technology product company.

The go-to-market motion is community-led and event-driven: PAO reaches participants primarily through its website (pao.org), league-specific landing pages, email newsletters, and word-of-mouth within the professional sports community, with annual conferences serving as the principal touchpoints for discipleship and community formation.

Name

Pro Athletes Outreach

Legal name

Pro Athletes Outreach

Website

https://pao.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pro Athletes Outreach is a faith-based nonprofit founded in 1971 that runs annual conferences, Bible studies, and ministry programs for professional athletes and their spouses across the NFL, MLB, NHL, Basketball, Soccer, and Hockey leagues.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Faith-based Athlete Ministry

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Cause, Community & CSR-Linked Sports Partnerships (Foundations, Youth Programs) (MPAKALAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Arts, Sports & Recreation-Based Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAJ)

Keywords

• Faith-based athlete ministry
• Professional athlete conferences
• Sports discipleship programs
• Marriage ministry for athletes
• Christian athlete community

Headquarters

HQ city

Highlands Ranch

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Giving: PAO operates as a faith-based ministry funded through donations from supporters. The organization emphasizes generosity and glorifying God with finances, offering giving options through their website.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Pro Athletes Outreach is a faith-based nonprofit ministry that ministers to professional athletes, coaches, and their families through yearly conferences, seasonal Bible studies, women's gatherings, and local events. Its primary deliverables are community and discipleship programming delivered via annual multi-day gatherings branded under "The Increase" (including league-specific conferences for NFL, MLB, NHL, Basketball, and Soccer) and the Increase Together marriage conference, supported by the "The Increase" publication and the TIW (The Increase Women) women's discipleship initiative.

Product overview

Pro Athletes Outreach is a single unified ministry offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The organization centers on The Increase publication as its core spiritual resource, complemented by TIW (The Increase Women) for women's-specific discipleship, and delivers its mission through a portfolio of sports-specific annual conferences (NFL, MLB, Basketball, Hockey, Soccer, Marriage, Summer) that provide yearly community gatherings, seasonal bible studies, women's gatherings, and local events for pro athletes and couples.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Increase: Main publication and content brand of Pro Athletes Outreach, serving as a resource center for the pro athlete community.
• The Increase Women (TIW)

Products and services

• The Increase

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Sports Spectrum: Sports Spectrum is a media platform covering the intersection of sports and faith, including athlete testimonies and feature stories. Comparable to PAO's "The Increase" publication and faith-in-sports content mission, with overlap in audience.
• Athletes for Hope: Athletes for Hope is a nonprofit collective of professional athletes supporting charitable causes. Comparable to PAO in mobilizing professional athletes for community impact, though secular and philanthropy-oriented rather than faith-focused.

Direct peers

• Catholic Athletes for Christ: Catholic Athletes for Christ serves professional, collegiate, and high school athletes with faith-based fellowship and chaplaincy. Comparable to PAO in serving professional athletes across leagues with a faith-centered community model.
• Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA): FCA is the largest faith-based sports ministry globally, serving coaches and athletes across all major sports. It is the most direct comparable to PAO given shared faith-based positioning, multi-sport coverage, and conferences/camps model.
• Athletes in Action: Athletes in Action is the sports ministry of Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ), serving professional, collegiate, and Olympic athletes with faith-based community, conferences, and outreach—directly comparable to PAO's professional-athlete focus.
• Champions for Christ: Champions for Christ is a faith-based sports ministry specifically focused on professional athletes. Comparable to PAO in targeting the pro athlete demographic with conferences and discipleship, though with a smaller footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Positive Coaching Alliance: Positive Coaching Alliance develops character through sports for youth and high school athletes. Comparable to PAO in the character-and-sports intersection, but operates more broadly across age groups and focuses on coaching rather than athlete-direct ministry.
• First Tee: First Tee is a youth development organization using golf to build character and life skills. Comparable to PAO in combining sports with values/character development, but serves youth rather than professional athletes and operates at much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1591602

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pro Athletes Outreach