Australian sports stars making it big in business
They might be well-known for their sporting excellence, but many Australian sports stars are making it big in the business world.
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They might be well-known for their excellence on the field, in the pool or on the racetrack, but many Australian sports stars are also finding success in the business world.
Some of them have begun setting themselves up for post-competition life while still in the game, while others have made innovative career moves upon retirement.
Many have teamed up to launch enterprises in industries including hospitality, fitness, education, and liquor.
Others have gone out alone or taken up side hustles to make extra cash, and some have chosen to invest in companies rather than starting their own.
A collective of 40 big name sporting figuresformed Athletic Ventures, a private equity group which has poured money into digital healthcare start-ups eucalyptus and HealthMatch, “human performance” tech company Fusion Sport, as well as Mexican food chain Guzman Y Gomez.
The syndicate was founded by GWS Giants midfielder Matt de Boer, and more sporting figures who are a part of the group can today be revealed.
They include NBA champion Andrew Bogut, world champion surfer Joel Parkinson, Olympic gold medal swimmer Bronte Campbell, NSW Swifts Super Netball coach Briony Akle, Collingwood forward Josh Thomas, Hawthorn midfielder Jaeger O’Meara, Melbourne Demons defender Adam Tomlinson, AFLW star Tayla Harris, and Olympic sprinter Steven Solomon.
De Boer said the group of elite athletes “understood the mindset of high-growth companies”.
“We’re a like-minded network from a diverse set of codes, investing together as Athletic Ventures only compounds the value that we can offer purposeful companies looking to accelerate their growth,” De Boer said.
He said that since Athletic Ventures had invested in Guzman Y Gomez, it was “seeing record numbers of professional athletes and their teams support the business by ordering catering for their post match meals”.
“It’s a great partnership,” he said.
The value of Guzman Y Gomez is now about $1.06 billion according to latest valuation of the restaurant chain by fund manager Magellan Financial which is sitting on a 12 per cent stake.
Here are some of the other business moves our on field champions have made off field in the past decade:
AFL
NICK RIEWOLDT
Age: 38
Status: Retired
Played for: St Kilda (2001-2017)
Company: Co-owner of Body Fit studios
Body Fit revealed last year that retired St Kilda star Nick Riewoldt, along with ex-cricketer George Bailey and current Test captain Tim Paine, had secured the rights to open studios across Tasmania.
Riewoldt was four years out of the game when he decided to take on the venture, while Bailey had left the field six years earlier.
The trio have opened two clubs on the Apple Isle — in Hobart and Devonport — and are set to launch at least another six.
JACK WATTS
Age: 30
Status: Retired
Played for: Melbourne (2009-2017), Port Adelaide (2018-2020)
Company: Co-founder of Skwosh
Five years before his retirement in 2020, Jack Watts along with friends Jack Turner and Adam Walsh launched men’s swimwear brand Skwosh.
The former no. 1 draft pick, who first played for Melbourne before joining Port Adelaide, looks after publicity for the business. Walsh takes care of operations, while Turner is the creative mind.
Watts told News Corp in February that he could see himself “selling it into overseas markets”.
TOMMY SHERIDAN
Age: 27
Status: Retired
Played for: Fremantle (2012-2018), Greater Western Sydney (2019-2020)
Company: Co-owner of Rixx Eyewear
In 2016 while still Competing for Fremantle, Tommy Sheridan and his business partner, Coen Rodgers launched Rixx Eyewear.
Sheridan, who retired from AFL in 2020 after joining Greater Western Sydney, previously said that he looked after the “content stuff and networking” while Rodgers takes care of “the work behind the computer and in the office”.
DYLAN GRIMES
Age: 30
Status: Competing
Play for: Richmond (2010-present)
Company: Mt Macedon Winery
The Richmond defender was six years into his AFL career when he and his then-fiancee Elisha took the keys to Mt Macedon Winery about an hour northwest of Melbourne.
When he’s not on the field, he tends to more than 2.5 hectare or vines, and also runs a restaurant, cellar door, accommodation and wedding centre on the property.
CHRIS JUDD
Age: 37
Status: Retired
Played for: West Coast (2002-2007), Carlton (2008-2015)
Company: Co-owner of Jaggad
Chris Judd, along with his wife Bec and former ex-footballer Steven Greene, launched activewear brand Jaggad in 2013 while Competing for Carlton, two years before his retirement.
In 2020, the brand denied copying designs by rising Australian by rising Australian fashion label, Nagnata.
Menswear was also quietly dumped from the Jaggad range last year.
DANE SWAN
Age: 37
Status: Retired
Played for: Collingwood (2002-2016)
Company: Renegade Art Society
Investment: The Albion Hotel
Former Collingwood midfielder Dane Swan opened tattoo parlour Renegade Art Society in 2015 before he announced his retirement one year later.
Located in Brunswick West, the shop claims it prides itself “on creating custom, one of a kind tattoos”.
Swan is also a part owner of the three-storey Albion Hotel in South Melbourne, which was once intentionally torched by a builder who needed more time to finish renovations.
The establishment, which reopened three years after the 2018 incident, also belongs to ex-Melbourne Storm players Robbie Kearns and Danny Williams
Matt Darcy, who’s brother Luke played for the Western Bulldogs for 13 years, is also a part-owner through his company The Darcy Group.
SCOTT PENDLEBURY
Age: 33
Status: Competing
Plays for: Collingwood (2006-present)
Company: Co-owner of Progression Fitness Club
Scott Pendlebury made his debut for Collingwood in 2006, and 10 years later, he decided to look at money-making opportunities beyond the field.
The midfielder along with his wife Alex joined Progression Fitness Club in 2016 after a trip to New York where they were inspired by the “boutique fitness studios”.
Originally founded as an outdoor fitness model by Ben Scoyler in 2008, the pair decided to switch to an indoor and outdoor fitness model and integrate Alex’s business, Simple Sensible Nutrition.
The boutique clubs can be found in Chadstone, Abbotsford at the sporting precinct Melbourne Park.
JOSH GIBSON
Age: 37
Status: Retired
Played for: North Melbourne (2006-2009), Hawthorn (2010-2017)
Company: Revl Training
Three years after his 2017 retirement following an 11 year career Competing first for North Melbourne then Hawthorn, Josh Gibson launched group fitness business, Revl Training.
Gibson has clubs in Prahran in Melbourne, as well as Neutral Bay, Surry Hills, Manly, and Charlestown in NSW, Maroochydore on the Gold Coast, and Unley in Adelaide.
ISAAC SMITH
Age: 32
Status: Competing
Played for: Hawthorn (2011-2020), Geelong (2021-present)
Company: Co-owner of Jamu Dining
Isaac Smith opened Jamu Dining, along with teammate James Frawley and Evelyn Lau (owner of the nearby A Thousand Blessings cafe) in 2018.
The restaurant, located just outside of Melbourne’s CBD in Richmond, markets itself as drawing “inspiration from Asian street food, Malaysian coffee shops, Japan’s izakayas and regional home cooking”.
MAX GAWN
Age: 29
Status: Competing
Played for: Melbourne (2010-present)
Company: Co-owner of East End Wine Bar
Melbourne ruck star Max Gawn opened East End Wine Bar nine years into his career with the Demons when he was just 27.
The chic venue in Camberwell in Melbourne’s inner-east is also owned by three others, Rich Donovan, Craig Tate and Phil Gjisbergs
Gawn’s first part-time job was with his mum who first had a cafe in the bayside suburb of Sandringham before she moved to Loch in South Gippsland and set up another.
He told the Herald Sun in 2019: “Footy came along and hospitality took a pause, but it was always something I wanted to get back to.”
JASON AKERMANIS
Age: 44
Status: Retired
Played for: Brisbane Bears (1995-1996), Brisbane Lions (1997-2006), Western Bulldogs (2007-2010)
Investment: Zucoin
Jason Akermanis has turned his attention to cryptocurrency eleven years after retiring from AFL.
In August, a new Australian cryptocurrency called Zucoin launched, which Mr Akermanis has been marketing and he also owns a portion of the coins.
Akermanis, who expects the digital currency to make in excess of $6 billion, claimed it was a “much better product than bitcoin”.
“The biggest problem in crypto – we call them the triennial problem. You’ve got cost, speed – it could take four minutes or four hours (to mine crypto) — and then you’ve got scalability,” he told News Corp at the time.
“Zucoin solves every problem.
“The cost is a text message, the speed is an instant.”
LEIGH FISHER
Age: 37
Status: Retired
Played for: St Kilda (2003-2010)
Company: Cornerstone and Co Cafe
Leigh Fisher played 55 games for across 2003-2010 before he was delisted.
He started as a field umpire for the AFL in 2013, a role he is still in, and four years later opened the Cornerstone & Co cafe in the Melbourne bayside suburb of Hampton.
FARREN RAY
Age: 35
Status: Retired
Played for: Western Bulldogs (2004-2008), St Kilda (2009-2015), North Melbourne (2016)
Company: Co-founder of Curiously Cauli
Farren Ray retired in 2016 after a 12 year AFL career Competing for the Western Bulldogs, St Kilda and North Melbourne.
Two years later he entered the fast moving consumer goods industry and launched a cauliflower-based cracker and dip brand, Curiously Cauli, with his partner Bianca Luscombe.
Luscombe, who has lived with Type 1 diabetes since early childhood, says they launched the business after identifying a gap in the alternative foods market.
SHAUN HAMPSON
Age: 32
Status: Retired
Played for: Carlton (2007-2013), Richmond (2014-2018)
Company: Co-founder of Ascot Food + Wine
Shaun Hampson and his model fiancee Megan Gale became partners in Ascot Food Store, owned by Dave Stewart, in 2017.
The cafe, now known as Ascot Food + Wine, is located in Ascot Vale about 20 minutes northwest of Melbourne’s CBD.
Last year, the pair also snapped up a “vintage Hollywood era”-inspired weekender in Daylesford for $800,000.
Dubbed Dollywood Daylesford, it’s available to rent via Airbnb for $818 a night.
MATTHEW PAVLICH
Age: 39
Status: Retired
Played for: Fremantle (2000-2016)
Company: Co-founder of PickStar
After ending his 16 year AFL career Competing for Fremantle in 2016, Matthew Pavlich went on to complete an MBA before launching talent booking start-up PickStar with former footy player James Begley.
In 2018 it was revealed they raised $1 million in funding for the corporate talent booking platform.
AFLW
KATIE BRENNAN
Age: 28
Status: Competing
Played for: Western Bulldogs (2017-2019), Richmond (2020)
Company: KB Performance
Among her impressive list of achievements, including leading the Western Bulldogs in the AFL from 2017-2019 before taking the helm at Richmond, Katie Brennan also owns the gym KB Performance.
Located north of Melbourne in Coburg, the club says it specialises in “female focused strength and conditioning”.
ALEX SAUNDRY
Age: 29
Status: Delisted
Played for: Greater Western Sydney (2017-2018)
Company: More Than Management
After four games with Greater Western Sydney before she was delisted in 2018, Alex Saundry quickly moved to establish talent management firm More Than Management.
Among those on the company’s books are AFLW Richmond captain Katie Brennan and Greater Western Sydney captain Alicia Eva, netball and Melbourne Vixens vice-captain Emily Mannix, as well as, among others, Western Sydney Wanderers defender and Fox Sports commentator Georgia Yeoman-Dale.
RUGBY LEAGUE
JASON NIGHTINGALE
Age: 34
Status: Retired
Played for: St George Illawarra (2007-2018), NZ Rugby League
Companies: Co-founder of Elite Athlete Business School, Flow Espresso
Jason Nightingale played for both NSW and NZ Rugby teams during his 11 years on the field, and co-founded Elite Athlete Business School along with Rebecca Cook in 2014.
The school claims to “help make the transition from elite athlete to real world business an achievable reality.”
He also owns Flow Espresso, a coffee shop in Kogarah, about 20 minutes south of Sydney’s CBD.
MATTHEW JOHNS
Age: 50
Status: Retired
Played for: Newcastle Knights (1992-2000), Wigan Warriors (2001), Cronulla Sharks (2002)
Company: Co-founder of Steel City Beer
Matthew Johns and his younger brother Andrew this year launched Steel City Beer, along with former Knights teammates, Danny Buderus and Kurt Gidley, and former pro-surfers Craig Anderson, Matt Hoy and Ryan Callinan.
They partnered with beverage giant Lion and “the godfather of Australian craft brewing” Chuck Hahn to bring the Newcastle-based brewery to life.
BILLY SLATER
Age: 38
Status: Retired
Played for: Melbourne Storm (2003-2018)
Companies: Brick Lane Brewing (co-founder), MOVE with Billy Slater, Slater Thoroughbreds, Billy’s Buddies
Former Melbourne Storm fullback Billy Slater was among 25 co-founders — including outgoing Collingwood president Eddie Maguire and lawyer Paul Bowker — of Brick Lane Brewing.
The craft brewery was launched in 2018, the same year Slater retired.
Since then he has launched a number of other ventures, including fitness app MOVE with Billy Slater, and Billy’s Buddies — a ball sports program for young children.
He also owns a thoroughbred breeding business, Slater Thoroughbreds, with his wife Nicole.
DARREN LOCKYER
Age: 44
Status: Retired
Played for: Brisbane Broncos (1995-2011)
Company: Co-owner of Blind Tiger Bar
Darren Lockyer, who wrapped up his career with the Brisbane Broncos in 2017, is the co-owns Blind Tiger Bar in The Gap along with two others.
Located about 15 minutes northwest of Brisbane, the watering hole opened in 2019 and features offbeat decor and craft beers, artisan spirits, share plates and mains.
JOHNATHAN THURSTON
Age: 38
Status: Retired
Played for: Canterbury Bulldogs (2002-2004), North Queensland Cowboys (2005-2018)
Companies: JT Academy, Skytrans (co-owner)
Johnathan Thurston has excelled in the business world since his retirement in 2018.
Thurston, who played for the Canterbury Bulldogs and North Queensland Cowboys during his 16 year career, founded JT Academy which provides employment initiatives and training programs.
The rugby league legend also purchased and relaunched charter airline Skytrans with Peter Collings in 2015.
ADAM MACDOUGALL
Age: 46
Status: Retired
Played for: Sydney Roosters (1995), Newcastle Knights (1997-2003; 2007-2001), South
Company: Co-founder of The Healthy Happy Co
Former NRL star Adam MacDougall and his wife Belinda founded the Healthy Happy Co in 2013, two years after his retirement.
Many would know it by its core product The Man Shake.
The company is also behind The Lady Shake and The Kids Shake, with all three stocked at supermarkets and sold online.
In an interview with CEO Magazine last year, Belinda claimed they had helped change
“hundreds of thousands of customers’ lives for the better”
RUGBY UNION
ANGUS SCOTT-YOUNG
Age: 24
Status: Competing
Plays for: Queensland Reds
Angus Scott-Young this year launched his new vintage-style T-shirt brand Saint Gustaf.
Inspired by the growing popularity of vintage-style NBA and NFL T-shirts, the hand-drawn illustrations by Angus stem from his love of pop culture, comic heroes and villains, and his childhood obsession with drawing skulls and demons.
CRICKET
STEVE SMITH
Age: 31
Status: Competing
Investments: Koala, Cashrewards
International cricketer and former Test captain Steve Smith reportedly invested $100,000 for a 10 per cent stake in mattress start-up Koala in 2015.
He also became a brand ambassador as part of the deal.
Smith’s stake would have been diluted after Koala completed a $500 million raising round with private investors last year. However, his original investment is likely to have grown significantly to an estimated $30 million.
He also purchased a $200,000 stake in financial technology company Cashrewards ahead of its IPO late last year.
SHANE WARNE
Age: 51
Status: Retired
Company: SevenZeroEight, The Shane Warne Project
Investments: Social Energy
Shane Warne launched gin line SevenZeroEight in late 2019, which last year also pumped out hand sanitiser as the coronavirus pandemic set in for two WA hospitals.
He’s also launched The Shane Warne Project, a range of cricket and golf wear, three years ago.
He is also a shareholder in UK-based artificial intelligence start-up Social Energy, although his stake is unknown.
Warne also helped the brand — which helps manage household power needs using rooftop solar and batteries — launch in Australia last year.
SHANE WATSON
Age: 40
Status: Retired
Company: T20 Stars cricket equipment
Earlier this year, former cricketer Shane Watson launched T20 Stars in 2020, four years after his retirement.
It is an educational resource for lovers of T20 cricket, but earlier this year he added a range of cricket gear under the same brand.
Watson told News Corp at the time he feared the cost of cricket gear meant the game was no longer accessible to all Australians, which prompted him to develop his own brand.
“I love the game of cricket. I want as many young boys and girls to be able to have the opportunity to play the game and when I looked at how expensive it was starting to get for people to even be able to start Competing cricket, it was too strong a pull for me to ignore,” he told News Corp in January.
BASKETBALL
LIZ CAMBAGE
Age: 30
Status: Competing
Company: Vitadrop
Not only does Liz Cambage play for the Las Vegas Aces and the Australian Opals, the Victorian is also a business owner.
Cambage, 29, co-founded Vitadrop, which sells electrolyte and vitamin powders in 2018.
BEN SIMMONS
Age: 25
Status: Competing
Investment: FaZe Clan
Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons revealed last year he had invested an undisclosed sum in e-sports organisation FaZe Clan.
Simmons, who grew up in Melbourne and has been a gamer since his teenage years, also became a brand ambassador to the organisation as part of the deal.
He told Forbes: “I am going to bring it back to Australia and bring an international side to it. I also want to bring more kids into it.”
RACING
JAMIE WHINCUP
Age: 38
Status: Racing
Company: LOCA Cafe & Drive Thru Coffee
Investments: Triple Eight Race Engineering
Jamie Whincup might be preparing to retire this year, but he’s already made moves to set himself up for life after racing.
The seven-time V8 Supercars winner opened LOCA Cafe & Drive Thru Coffee in Hope Island, Queensland, back in 2016.
Whincup, 38, is also is set to take over as team principal of Triple Eight Race Engineering in 2022, in which he has a 19 per cent stake.
MARK WEBBER
Age: 44
Status: Retired
Company: JAM Sports Management
Mark Webber, who retired from formula one racing in 2016, launched JAM Sports Management, a talent management agency, along with his wife Ann and corporate CEO Jason Allen.
He also tried his hand in the fashion world with Aussie Grit Apparel, however it looks to have wound up operations, with both its Facebook page and website offline.
RENEE GRACIE
Age: 26
Status: Retired
Side-hustle: OnlyFans content creator
Two years after Renee Gracie’s V8 Supercars career came to an end in 2017, the former racing driver turned to OnlyFans to make some extra cash, and it defied her expectations.
Gracie said followers had urged her to become a creator on the subscription-based social media platform, and last year claimed her racy content generating her $25,000 a week.
“The position I am in now has set me up for life. I’m setting myself up for an early retirement,” Gracie told The Daily Telegraph last year.
UFC
BEC RAWLINGS
Age: 32
Status: Competing
Side-hustle: OnlyFans content creator
Australian UFC star Bec Rawlings makes extra cash through posting racy content on OnlyFans.
She charges $A13 a month (with a discount if users subscribe for longer). She said her page on the subscription-based social media platform helped her stay afloat during the pandemic.
“Look it’s been a game changer for me,” Rawlings told MMA Fighting last year.
“I’d be stressing and freaking out right now. I definitely wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in right now if I didn’t start my OnlyFans. I took the plunge and I’ve never really been one to care about what people think or say. I put myself out there and it’s definitely paid off.
OLYMPIANS
MICHAEL KLIM
Age: 44
Status: Retired
Company: Milk and Co
Michael Klim launched skincare brand MILK & Co in 2008 – one year after his retirement and three years before his very brief return to competitive swimming.
Chemist Warehouse, Priceline and Terry White Chemists all stock the brand.
DYLAN ALCOTT
Age: 30
Status: Competing
Companies: Co-founder of Get Skilled Access, and Able Foods
Investments: Investor in investment syndicate Athletic Ventures
Paralympian Dylan Alcott is as much a star in the business world as he is on the court.
The Australian wheelchair tennis champion has launched at least two ventures while still in the game including co-founding consultancy firm Get Skilled Access, and last year opened ready-made meal service Able Foods
He is also part of the syndicate Athletic Ventures, which has invested in digital healthcare start-ups eucalyptus and HealthMatch, “human performance” tech company Fusion Sport, and Mexican food chain Guzman Y Gomez.
GIAAN ROONEY
Age: 38
Status: Retired
Company: GR Giaan Rooney
Olympic swimming champion Giaan Rooney is now trying her hand at fashion design.
This year she launched her label GR Giaan Rooney, a range of activewear and loungewear stocked at Harris Scarfe.
SURFING
LAYNE BEACHLEY
Age: 49
Status: Retired
Company: Awake Academy
Former pro surfer Layne Beachley has recently turned to the wellness industry, launching her company Awake Academy where she has the title Chief Awakening Officer.
Beachley, 48, started the business in September last year and offers an “Own Your Truth” course at a cost of $297.
The seven-step program claims participants will, among other things, “develop the ability and awareness to express [their] feelings” and learn “actions to energise [their] life and awaken [their] spirit”.
MICK FANNING
Age: 40
Status: Competing
Company: Owns an FS8 club
Investment: Scratch pet food
Australian surfing legend Mick Fanning last year got behind pet food start-up Scratch after seeing the difference it made to his dog Harper.
He invested an undisclosed sum and became part of the company after trialling the kibble for a year, which he said made a different to his pooch whom suffers from a skin condition.
Fanning joined at a time where the company’s “annual revenue [was] in the millions”.
He has also opened an FS8 studio — a new venture from fitness brand F45 — in Byron Bay, which offers pilates, yoga and toning exercises.
Fanning also was also co-owner of craft brewer Balter, which was sold to the nation’s biggest beermaker, Carlton & United Breweries, in a deal that could have made them as much as $200m.
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