David Beckham-backed supplement brand IM8 has entered a multi-year partnership with Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, a deal that reflects how sports nutrition and wellness brands are increasingly pursuing deeper operational and financial collaboration with professional sports organizations.

According to Prenetics, it marks the first time Inter Miami has taken an ownership position in a brand partner.

The partnership expands IM8’s growing presence in professional sports following the launch of its Daily Ultimate Essentials product and broader longevity-focused platform, which NutraIngredients previously covered in reporting on the brand’s debut and subsequent product rollout.

Equity models gain traction in sports nutrition

The deal structure reflects the ongoing industry-wide evolution from traditional endorsement arrangements toward equity-based partnerships as brands align long-term commercial interests among brands, athletes and sports organizations.

“The traditional sports nutrition deal is a transaction: brand pays cash, club wears the logo, nobody’s incentives are actually aligned,” Danny Yeung, CEO of Prenetics and co-founder of IM8, told NI.

Yeung said the company has already adopted an equity model with athlete partners, including David Beckham, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Aryna Sabalenka and Ollie Bearman.

“The athletes and clubs with real leverage want ownership, not invoices, and only the brands with genuine product credibility and a long-term thesis can offer equity — because nobody wants shares in a brand that won’t be here in five years,” he added.

As part of the agreement, IM8 products, including Daily Ultimate Essentials, Daily Ultimate Longevity and The Beckham Stack, will be integrated into Inter Miami’s Florida Blue Training Center and made available to players and staff as part of daily nutrition and recovery routines.

The deal also includes group player name, image and likeness rights tied to at least four Inter Miami players, along with stadium signage, digital content and fan activations.

NSF certification increasingly important in professional sports

Yeung said third-party certification was essential for entering elite sports environments, particularly as professional organizations continue to prioritize testing for banned substances and compliance protocols.

“NSF Certified for Sport is non-negotiable at this level…pro athletes can’t take supplements that haven’t been tested for banned substances,” he explained.

He added that certification requirements continue to create barriers for some brands seeking access to professional teams and training facilities. “A lot of brands in our space simply can’t sit inside a pro locker room because their products haven’t been tested.”

The emphasis on certification reflects a wider trend across sports nutrition and wellness categories, where brands are increasingly using professional sports partnerships to reinforce quality and compliance credentials. Nutrafol, for example, recently partnered with Major League Baseball following its NSF Certified for Sport designation.

Athlete integration expected to support product development

Beyond marketing exposure, Yeung said the Inter Miami partnership is intended to create a direct feedback loop between IM8 and the club’s sports science and medical teams.

“This is the part of the deal we’re most excited about, and it’s why we’re building an IM8 Nutrition Center inside the Inter Miami training facility, [as] it gives us a daily feedback loop with the sports science and medical staff,” he said.

The company confirmed in a press statement that it plans to evaluate areas including hydration, sleep quality, gut health, recovery markers and biomarker trends across a competitive season.

Yeung added that elite athletes provide a high-intensity testing environment for formulation and compliance considerations.

“Pro athletes are the hardest stress test in the world, [and] that kind of daily use surfaces real signal on what works and what doesn’t — formulation, format, dosing, compliance, education,” he explained.

All-in-one formulations target foundational nutrition

The company has positioned IM8’s all-in-one formulation strategy as complementary to individualized sports nutrition protocols commonly used by professional teams.

“We’re not pretending IM8 replaces a sports nutritionist…pro athletes will continue to individualize, and they should,” said Yeung. Instead, he said the company sees its Daily Ultimate Essentials product as a core platform that can simplify broad supplement regimens before additional performance-specific products are layered on top.

“What IM8 replaces is the messy 8-to-12-product foundational stack most athletes are stitching together from brands of wildly varying quality,” Yeung said, and for mainstream consumers, adherence is a key consideration.

“The supplements people actually take every day beat the perfect stack they don’t,” he added.

Prenetics said IM8 reached approximately $120 million in annualized recurring revenue in its first year and projects between $180 million and $200 million in full-year 2026 revenue. The brand currently ships to more than 40 countries.