Eli Manning is investing in the manufacturer of sports equipment Xtech

Eli Manning, twice the MVP of the Super Bowl, may have hung up his shoulders, but he is still interested in the equipment.

The former quarter of the New York Giants announced Thursday that it had invested in the manufacturer of sports protective equipment Xtech.

Manning, who wore Xtech shoulders during his play days, said he had participated in the company because he believed in the product and wanted to make sure that young athletes have the same high -level safety equipment as NFL players.

“They have [XTech] He really dominated the NFL and the college market from the shoulder point of view, and I want to help continue this trip while they explore in high school and widen this business, “Manning in CNBC told an interview.

Manning has not announced the size of his participation, but he is one of the company’s five best investors, XTECH told CNBC.

Manning said he didn’t just want to be a silent partner. He plans to help Xtech as a spokesperson, making presentations and helping the large-scale business strategy.

Since his retirement in 2020, Manning has turned to investment in sports through his capital-investment company Brand Velocity Group and via private investments. He also owns a minority at the National Women’s Soccer League Gotham FC and the New York Golf Club of TGL.

Xtech dominates the university and professional football market. The founder Bob Broderick said that almost 90% of NFL players have chosen to wear custom shoulders from the company that cost around $ 599 each.

XTECH, founded in 2012, has roots from New York Giants.

Broderick made his debut in space as an assistant of giant equipment. It was there that he learned the ins and outs of the equipment industry. Later, when he went up to the Giants Communications Department, he looked at the accent put on the equipment heading towards helmets as awareness of the effects of concussion propagates.

“All the main manufacturers and players were concentrated on the helmets – from the neck, were somehow forgotten,” said Broderick.

It was then presented to the Ted Monica equipment designer, whom he called “Steve’s work of the shoulders”. Together, they sought to create a business.

Monica, whose background included another manufacturer of upper Riddell equipment, designed a shoulder unit which, according to Xtech, is safer, lighter and allows more mobility. He also tried to design a more elegant and more attractive look than traditional shoulder.

With the early support of the Super Bowl champion head coach Brian Billick, formerly Baltimore Ravens, the XTECH team has traveled the locker room around the NFL and began to install more and more players. This included Manning and current players Josh Allen from the Buffalo Bills, Josh Jacobs of Green Bay Packers and Fred Warner from San Francisco 49ers.

Today, Xtech is in the 32 NFL changing rooms.

“I felt with these pads, I obtained the protection I needed, but also with Xtech, I had more mobility in my arm, where he felt no different jet with pads without buffers,” said Manning.

Although the NFL has strict rules on the type of helmets that NFL players can wear, the epaulettes are left to the players and the teams to choose. The teams increase the cost of the shoulder unit for their players. XTECH has a team of 5 sellers who travel across the country by personally adapting 40,000 athletes.

Xtech says that her shoulders are 100% made American, with the manufacturing that takes place in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company said it allows faster manufacturing and shorter turnarounds with online orders that came out in one day. Competitors Douglas and Riddell can take 4 to 8 weeks to treat and ship.

Broderick said the company had sold around 100,000 shoulder units since its foundation. XTECH products are only available on the company’s website and Amazon. They are not found in large -scale retailers.

Xtech is now looking to break into the sports market for young people with a new product specific to young people it has in production, which is expected to launch next year. The youth line will be for players weighing 30 to 150 pounds and should be assessed in the $ 200 range.

“90% of the global market is secondary and young people,” said Broderick.

He said that Xtech is currently working with around 500 secondary schools, but that there are more than 15,000 secondary schools playing football, which represents a major market opportunity.

Manning said that when he was in high school, he presented himself in training on the first day and had received a second -hand shoulder pair and a helmet and did not question him.

“Now parents are more involved. They want to put their children in the best things and the pads that will keep them safe and protect them and help them perform on a higher level,” he said.