The union between athletes and startups will be the pillar of the new LaLiga and SportBoost project

The sports industry evolves and new paths are being created. LaLiga and SportBoost have come together to lay the foundations for an innovative project in Spain, which will new opportunities for active and retiring athletes, as well as technology startups. This alliance is created with the aim of providing a job path —beyond competition— for athletes and generating greater visibility, projection and financing for companies.

This Tuesday the presentation ceremony was held. There have been present both the president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, and the founder of SportBoost, Iker Casillas. “One of our goals is promote the sports industry in general, not just footballand with this type of alliance we make sure that this is the case,” Tebas said. To which Casillas added: “This is a very important agreement because with this alliance we get athletes have the possibility of finding alternatives to the inevitable withdrawal, with the vertigo that this entails. And also, that startups can benefit from everything they can offer them.”

Both were supported in the presentation by José Manuel Calderón, sports advisor for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who contributed his own experience to highlight the importance of projects like this one. “Promoting these initiatives is essential. We open a range of possibilities that will allow athletes and former athletes to continue developing their careers linked to the world of sport, contributing to the industry with a different role than the one they had until now“explained the former basketball player, who also has worked on a project similar to this from the American Professional Basketball Players Association.

AFE will also participate

The Association of Spanish Soccer Players will also be involved in this initiative, whose presentation today was attended by Manuel Tello, attached to the general management of AFE, and Marta Pintado, responsible for the Training Department of AFE. She will be present in one of the keys of the project, the PEO. And it is that the ‘Player Entrepreneurship Office’ will be created in order to manage and promote the relationship between athletes and startupsbeing able to participate in five ways: mentoring, sponsorship, entrepreneurship, job opportunity and investment.

In addition, this plan – initially planned for the next four years – will have to analyze in detail the projects coming from national and international startupsa recruitment and selection process where AFE will intervene, as well as the Spanish Sports Association (ADESP) and the Higher Sports Council (CSD)through its PROAD program.