Influencer Advisory™How did IM8 land Inter Miami, and what can your brand copy?
For you if you want to expand company partnerships, want inspiration on precedents, and need actionable tips to save you time.
Founder · October 5, 2026 · 8 min read
For you if:
- You want to expand company partnerships
- Want inspiration on precedents
- Need actionable tips to save you time
IM8 is the daily supplement David Beckham co-founded, and in under two years it signed Inter Miami CF, six famous shareholders, a blood testing partner and its own Strava club. Here's how they did it, in eight steps, with pictures.
Pay your partners in shares, not cash
How they got Inter Miami CF
Exclusive health supplements partner, and the club took shares in Prenetics rather than a fee, the first time Inter Miami has ever taken equity in a brand partner.
IM8 pays its big names in shares, not cash. David Beckham, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Aryna Sabalenka, Ollie Bearman, Jay Shetty and Lily Collins all own shares. A partner who owns a piece of the company keeps showing up for it, without a renewal fee every year.
Run a club your customers use every week
IM8 is the first brand on the supplement shelf to run an official Strava club, and it's the one thing IM8 owns that customers use every week.
The club's challenge with Inter Miami CF passed 90,000, then 100,000, then 150,000 people, and closed at almost 200,000 in six weeks. The club itself had 4,139 members on 10 September 2026.
Those two numbers count different things, because you can join a Strava challenge without joining the club, and the club is the part IM8 keeps after the challenge ends.
Put your athletes inside the club
The club names athletes no press release lists. Ironman world champion Lucy Charles-Barclay joined in June, and Olympic surfer Kanoa Igarashi and two Premier Padel players were posted around the first London padel event in August.
Then IM8 put on a run with them. The IM8 Run Club: Champion's Mile on Tuesday 30 June 2026 was an easy 5K through Victoria Park in London with Lucy Charles-Barclay and British marathon champion Rose Harvey, joined by HYROX athlete and IM8 ambassador Sophia Parvizi-Wayne.
After the run there was a Q&A and an IM8 Hydration Station serving an IM8 x Third Space x Natural Fitness Food shake, and IM8's post about it got 1.1K likes.
Show up at events other people host
IM8 doesn't have to host every event. In Toronto, the Toronto Pilates & Social Club ran Mocktails & Movement on Saturday 22 August 2026 on the CIBC Square rooftop, with a 9am Pilates class and a 10:30 yoga class, women only.
Every ticket included an IM8 mocktail and a take-home sample, and the $35 VIP ticket added an IM8 gift. SWAE Labs gave every guest a facial mist. The club brought the room, the instructors and its 5,491 followers, and IM8 brought a drink and a sample.
Give fans a prize worth posting a video for
IM8 was a co-founding partner of the Sabalenka v Kyrgios Battle of the Sexes match in Dubai. Its Golden Ticket contest asked fans to post a video picking Team Sabalenka or Team Kyrgios, for a $25,000+ VIP trip for two with flights, a luxury hotel and courtside seats. No purchase was needed.
Every entry is a video a fan posted with IM8's name in it.
Make the community easy to find
The footer of IM8's site has its own IM8 Community column, with the Strava club, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest and Refer a Friend. Inter Miami CF sits in the Company column beside About Us.
So a customer can get to the club from the bottom of every page on IM8's site.
Check who already holds the slot before you pitch
Every sports property has a short list of category partners, and if a rival already has your category, you're not getting in. These are the slots other supplement brands already hold.
Other examples:
| Brand | What they hold |
|---|---|
| AG1 | England Rugby, Irish Rugby, Swansea City, the US SailGP team, a LIV Golf team, the APP Pickleball Tour, Soho House, and 600 Costco stores |
| Thorne | Unrivaled basketball, Major League Rugby, USA Ultimate, Team Liquid in esports, Equinox, plus a direct-to-employer programme |
| Momentous | USA Rugby, and a co-developed recovery drink with an NFL franchise |
| Ritual | Angel City FC, its first ever sponsorship |
| LMNT | USA Weightlifting |
| Myprotein | HYROX, as official global nutrition partner |
| Beam | USA Fencing |
| Ka'Chava | USA Triathlon, through 2025 |
| Huel | Spartan UK, for the 2024 and 2025 seasons |
AG1 took Swansea City as main club sponsor on 10 August 2026, its first football deal.
AG1 is also on the US SailGP team's boat, and Thorne is Major League Rugby's official wellness partner.
Three obvious targets for IM8 are already taken. HYROX belongs to Myprotein, Equinox has been Thorne's since May 2023, and Life Time sells its own LTH line.
Sources: England Rugby, SailGP, LIV Golf, APP Tour, Thorne and Unrivaled, Major League Rugby, Momentous and USA Rugby, Angel City FC, Beam, Myprotein, USA Triathlon, Huel and Spartan UK, Equinox Circle.
Go after the slots nobody holds
On 10 September 2026 we checked five slots IM8 could take next, and nobody held any of them.
- Premier Padel, the tour itself. Its partners include Qatar Airways, Heineken 0.0, WHOOP, Audemars Piguet and Red Bull, and no supplement brand. Padel is biggest in Spain, Italy, Sweden, the UAE, Qatar, Mexico and Argentina, where MLS does not reach.
- WHOOP. No supplement brand has signed a wearable. Superpower tells you what your blood says, a wearable tells you what your body did last night, and IM8 is what you take in between.
- Third Space, or Barry's. Equinox and Life Time are taken, and these two aren't. IM8 already served a shake with Third Space at the Champion's Mile.
- A second football club, in Europe. Inter Miami is one club in one country, and IM8 sells in 45 countries. Beckham co-owns Salford City.
- USA Triathlon. Ka'Chava's term ran through 2025 and nobody has taken it since, and IM8 already works with the reigning Ironman world champion.
Partner pages change, so check a slot again before you pitch it.
Sources: Premier Padel, WHOOP, Superpower, Third Space, Barry's, Sky Sports on Salford City, USA Triathlon.
Where we come in
We find which slots in your category are empty, find the clubs, teams and creators that already reach your customer, and set up the partnership for you. If you want to know who holds the slots you're looking at, that's the first thing we check in a free audit.
For how IM8 runs its groups and events, read how IM8 builds a creator community. For the full method, read the full playbook for building a creator community.