U.S. Olympians Alex Morgan, Sue Bird, Simone Manuel and Chloe Kim have teamed up to found TOGETHXR, a new media and commerce company designed to elevate women’s voices around sports.
“The piece of the pie we have is so small,” Bird told SELF.com, referring to a 2018 report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization which found that only 4% of total sports media coverage focused on women’s sports. “When there’s such a small piece … you almost have to fight with one another to get it. I’m glad that we’re now at a point where [female athletes] all kind of look at each other like, ‘Wait, what? That’s not the problem here. The problem is we need a bigger piece.’”
Morgan told NBC Sports that the idea to start TOGETHXR started back in 2015, around the time the U.S. won its third World Cup title. According to the company’s release, the company “will celebrate competitiveness and triumph broadly, incorporating activism, culture, wellness, fashion, design, beauty and more.”
TOGETHXR says it will have new content roll out daily on its social channels including a series highlighting 17-year-old national boxing champion Chantel Navarro’s quest for a gold medal. It will also have a docuseries focusing on young, female surfers “who navigate friendship and competition while honoring the culture of their native homeland of Hawaii.”
TOGETHXR is backed financially with a “mid-seven figure investment” by Magnet Companies, according to The New York Times.
Manuel made history at the 2016 Olympics by taking home four medals and becoming the first Black woman to win an individual event in Olympic swimming. Kim became the youngest half-pipe gold medalist at the 2018 Pyeongchang games. Morgan and Bird have both had decorated careers at the Summer Games and in their respective sports. Morgan has won two World Cups and one Olympic gold. Bird has four WNBA titles and four gold medals.
“We have our individual legacies as athletes through championships and medals, but what’s most important to us is championing for the next generation of women— because that will be the legacy that lasts,” the co-founders said in a joint statement. “We’re proud to have worked as a team to create TOGETHXR— a brand that elevates women’s voices and celebrates where sport and culture converge.”
