By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer
The Enhanced Games is going public in two ways — with a new listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange and also by offering a direct-to-consumer business focused on performance products in a move it says “aims to democratize access to performance enhancement tools and protocols.”
The announcement Wednesday comes six months ahead of the swimming, track and weightlifting competition the company will hold in Las Vegas. Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley and swimmer Ben Proud are among the handful of athletes who have signed up to compete for $250,000 first prizes.
They will not be drug tested in the way Olympic athletes are, but will be “mandated” to adhere to medical profiling to ensure their health prior to the competition, according to Enhanced’s news release.
The new public offering is expected to raise $200 million for Enhanced. The company said it closed a $40 million equity deal before its announcement, with that stake convertible into public shares once the company starts trading.
A key part of the financial model — one that was not discussed publicly when Enhanced Games launched in 2023 — is to offer what it calls consumer health products. The Enhanced news release says it intends to launch its product in early 2026. Currently on the Enhanced website is a link to “reserve access” to testosterone replacement medicines.
“By merging scientific progress with elite athletic performance, we can not only build an exciting new sports property that changes athletes’ lives, but also showcase that performance enhancements — under the right clinical and medical supervision — can deliver long term health and longevity benefits,” Enhanced CEO Maximilian Martin said.
Martin’s appointment as CEO was announced last week as part of a broad reworking of the company’s front office, one that will see founder and frontman Aron D’Souza move away from day-to-day operations but remain as a shareholder.
Sid Banthiya, formerly the chief finance officer at the bakery Milk Bar, took the same position with Enhanced. Rick Adams, the former chief of sport performance at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, is now an executive at Enhanced as its chief sporting officer.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports