I'm starting an EA aligned non-profit called High Impact Athletes that is aiming to funnel donations from current and retired pro athletes and their fans towards the most effective orgs in the world.
It's still early stage but I wondered if there were any pro or ex athletes hiding in the EA Forum who might be interested in supporting the idea? I believe pro sport is a relatively untapped space for EA and potentially has huge pulling power if the athletes get their fans on board.
Many thanks,
Marcus Daniell
Hi all, thought I'd jump in here with a few comments.
I think Ryan brings up a fair point in that the thought patterns of poker players may be MORE naturally aligned with EA than other sports. I do, however, think that pro athletes are more focused on optimisation and potential shortcuts than the average person, given how short sport careers are and how hugely impactful a good shortcut/efficiency can be on career earnings. The focus is always on 'better', and I think I can use a narrative along those lines to help bring other athletes into alignment with EA principles.
Also, there is already an EA charity in the poker space, REG, who do a great job. So my question to myself some months ago was where could I make the most marginal impact given my skillset and network? I concluded that I have a very rare 'in' with pro athletes given that I can approach them from the same level rather than with manager-speak. I think this translates across codes, and have already had some buy-in from athletes in other sports than my own.
Ultimately the biggest snowball will be made with the buy-in of fans, but I also think this is a strength of the area - a lot of people seem to be strongly influenced by the opinions and actions of their sporting heroes. More influenced than makes sense, in my opinion, but this is a huge lever nonetheless. So regardless of whether the actual donation power of athletes is relatively small, I think the influence that athletes have with their followers could make up for that.
I wasn't personally offended by Ryan's comments and welcome any pushback or feedback the community has. I think it's hugely useful and interesting.