What Pledgeball does

Pledgeball is a UK-registered charity (Charity Number 1194263) founded in 2019 and headquartered in Bristol, operating a web-based gamified platform that mobilizes sports fans to take measurable climate action through lifestyle pledges tied to their favorite teams. The core product is the Pledgeball League, which lets football fans, tennis players, padel players, coaches, and venues make structured behavioral pledges (such as 4-minute showers, cycling to work, or going vegan) that are quantified in kgCO2e and aggregated on live, club-ranked leaderboards. Supporting products include an LTA Coaches Leaderboard, a Grassroots Football League, a club listing/self-onboarding feature, the Route 26 docuseries, and the Pledgeball Podcast.

The technology stack is a web platform on pledgeball.org with real-time league tables, Mailchimp for email marketing, and Google Analytics for measurement; no AI/ML capabilities, APIs, or mobile applications are disclosed. The technology differentiators are domain specialization in sports-climate engagement, customizable pledge categories by commitment level, and match-tied pledging that links pledges to specific fixtures and enables inter-club competitions.

The business model is non-commercial: the platform is free for users and clubs, and the organization is funded through donations, grants, and partnership sponsorships rather than user fees. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, anchored by flagship partnerships with Mastercard (sponsoring the Mastercard Pledgeball initiative tied to the FIFA World Cup) and the Lawn Tennis Association (running the LTA Pledgeball League in its third year), plus a network of 30+ football clubs including Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Forest Green Rovers, Millwall, and QPR.

Name

Pledgeball

Legal name

Pledgeball

Website

https://pledgeball.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pledgeball is a UK charity that runs a web-based, gamified pledge platform letting football and tennis fans commit to lifestyle climate actions tied to their clubs, with live leaderboards, prize draws, and flagship partnerships with Mastercard and the LTA.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Sustainability Charity Platform

NAICS

Spectator Sports (71121), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events (7113)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Sports Fundraising & Development Services (Foundations, NIL Collectives Support) (MPAKAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Athletics Fundraising, Sponsorships & NIL Support (EDALAIAN), Athlete & Team Sponsorship Deals (Official Partners, Jersey/Kit Sponsors) (MPAKALAA)

Keywords

• Sports climate pledges
• Fan engagement platform
• Carbon reduction tracking
• Sustainability charity
• Gamified eco pledges

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Charitable Operations: As a UK-registered charity (Charity Number 1194263), Pledgeball operates primarily through donations, grants, and partnership funding rather than direct revenue generation from users.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Pledgeball operates a gamified, web-based pledge platform that engages sports fans in making quantified eco-friendly lifestyle pledges (e.g., 4-minute showers, cycling to work, going vegan) tied to their favorite football, tennis, or padel teams. Teams compete on live leaderboards ranking them by aggregate kgCO2e pledged, with prize draws incentivizing participation. The platform is free for users and is operated as a UK-registered charity funded by donations, grants, and corporate sponsorships such as Mastercard.

Product overview

Pledgeball is a BBC Award-winning charity platform that mobilizes the sports community to tackle climate change. The core offering is the Pledgeball League, a gamified sustainability pledge platform where fans make eco-friendly lifestyle changes (such as 4-minute showers, cycling to work, going vegan) to earn points for their sports teams. The platform spans multiple leagues: the core Football League (supporting professional teams like Premier League clubs), the LTA Pledgeball League for tennis and padel (in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association), and a Grassroots Football League for junior and community clubs. Users compete on live leaderboards tracking cumulative kgCO₂e pledged, with prize draws incentivizing participation. Supporting products include a Coaches Leaderboard, a club listing feature, a docuseries (Route 26), and a podcast. The platform is accessible via pledgeball.org.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pledgeball League: A football-focused initiative mobilizing fans to make climate pledges in support of their teams
• LTA Pledgeball League

Products and services

• Pledgeball League (Football) The primary platform league where sports fans make eco-friendly lifestyle pledges to earn points for their football teams, competing on live leaderboards based on cumulative kgCO2e pledged, with prize draws to incentivize participation.
• LTA Pledgeball League National sustainability pledge league for tennis and padel, in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association. Individual players, coaches, and venues make sustainability pledges to earn points on a national leaderboard during the summer season.
• LTA Coaches Leaderboard Dedicated leaderboard within the LTA Pledgeball League for tennis coaches, tracking their pledged venues and enabling coaches to register and compete for sustainability impact rankings.
• Grassroots Football League Pledgeball league specifically for grassroots and junior football clubs, enabling smaller community clubs to participate in sustainability competitions alongside professional teams.
• Club Listing (Add Your Club) Personalized club listing feature allowing any football or other sport club to get listed on the Pledgeball website and join the sustainability movement.

Quantifiable outcome

• 76,775,414 kgCO2e pledged per year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• MastercardflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerMastercard is a key sponsor of Pledgeball, including the Mastercard Pledgeball initiative. Gareth Bale endorsed the partnership citing 450 million expected viewers for the final. The partnership positions Pledgeball within major football events.
• LTA (Lawn Tennis Association)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-year partnership running the LTA Pledgeball League, now in its third year (2026). The LTA provides network access to coaches and venues in exchange for sustainability programming. Cameron Norrie has shown support for the initiative.
• Forest Green RoverscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerForest Green Rovers is both a participating club and a named partner, ranking 2nd on the football leaderboard with 323,063.12 kgCO2e pledged. Known as one of the greenest football clubs globally.
• TrainSplitminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTrain travel partner supporting sustainable transport messaging. Listed as a partner on the homepage footer.
• Football Supporters' AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFSA is a partner featured on the Pledgeball community page and collaborated on the Pledgeball Podcast discussing heat and the 2026 World Cup.
• Millwall FCcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMillwall is a participating club with dedicated prize draw terms and conditions, offering signed shirts and hospitality tickets to engaged fans.
• QPR FCcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerQueens Park Rangers is a participating club with dedicated prize draw for signed shirts, featuring prominently in competition Ts&Cs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Green Sports Alliance: US-headquartered membership network helping sports leagues, teams, venues and universities improve environmental performance. Overlaps with Pledgeball on sports-sustainability mission but operates at a broader industry-association scale rather than fan pledge-taking.
• Count Us In: Global citizen climate-action platform backed by major NGOs that tracks individual pledges and collective impact. Comparable to Pledgeball's pledge-quantification model but operates at a broader, non-sports-specific scale.
• Climate Neutral Now (UNFCCC): UN-backed initiative encouraging organisations and individuals to measure, reduce and offset emissions. Comparable in pledge/measurement framing but at a far broader, non-sports-specific institutional level.

Emerging players

• Forest Green Rovers: English football club widely regarded as the world's greenest football club and a named strategic partner of Pledgeball. Comparable in climate-action mission within sports and in using sustainability as a brand and fan-engagement lever, though Forest Green is a club rather than a platform.

Others

• B Team / B Lab: Network/certification ecosystem for mission-driven businesses and non-profits measuring social and environmental impact. Adjacent comparator for Pledgeball's stakeholder-driven impact measurement and reporting model, though not sport-specific.

Direct peers

• Sport and Sustainability International (SandSI): International non-profit coordinating the sports sector's response to the climate and sustainability agenda, including football-specific programmes. Closely comparable in mission, multi-stakeholder structure, and sport-climate positioning.
• Sport Positive: Sports sustainability hub that publishes sport-specific climate and equity rankings and convenes the Sport Positive Summit. Comparable to Pledgeball's leaderboard/recognition mechanism and focus on sport-sector climate action.
• Common Goal: Global sports charity collective that mobilises professional footballers and the wider sports industry around social and environmental causes. Most directly comparable to Pledgeball in mission (sports-for-good), charity structure, and athlete/fan engagement model.
• Players for the Planet: Athlete-led non-profit mobilising professional sports players and fans around environmental action. Closely comparable in fan/athlete-driven, sport-as-channel model for climate engagement.
• Athletes for Hope: Non-profit connecting professional athletes with charitable causes and fan engagement around social issues. Comparable charity structure and athlete-amplified mission, though broader than Pledgeball's climate-only focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pledge_ball?lang=en-GB
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@pledge_ball
• Facebookfacebook.com/pledgeball
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pledgeball
• Instagraminstagram.com/pledge_ball/?hl=en
• TikToktiktok.com/@pledge_ball

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Pledgeball