Torrey Craig Didn’t Want Athletes to Be Passive Investors. So He Built Something Different

The pitch is simple. Most athletes who invest in real estate do it the same way — write a check, hand it to someone else, and wait. They are passive. The decisions are made by operators and developers. The athlete’s name might be attached, but the actual work, the strategy, the knowledge of how commercial real estate functions — none of that belongs to the athlete.

Torrey Craig decided that was the wrong model.

The NBA veteran launched Teammates — an athlete-led commercial real estate platform built to move professional athletes from passive investors to active, strategic owners. The company combines athlete capital, influence, and relationships with experienced real estate operators and long-term project management. The goal is not just to give athletes a place to put their money. It is to give them a seat at the table where the real decisions are made.

Two of the earliest investors in Teammates are DeAndre Hopkins and Dyami Brown — both NFL wide receivers, both signaling that this is not a single-sport conversation. Craig is building cross-league from the start.

The First Project

Teammates’ first deal is already underway. The Mizzen is a nearly $100 million residential development located on the Fort Trumbull peninsula in New London, Connecticut — 251 market-rate apartments built in collaboration with developer RJDA.

New London is a city with a complicated recent history. The Fort Trumbull area was the site of one of the most controversial eminent domain cases in American legal history — Kelo v. City of New London — which went to the Supreme Court in 2005 and resulted in a ruling that reshaped how local governments can acquire private property for development. The land sat largely undeveloped for years after. The Mizzen is one of the first major residential projects to break ground on the peninsula since then.

For Teammates’ first investment to carry that kind of weight — a nearly $100 million development on contested, historically significant land — is a statement about the seriousness of what Craig is building.

Why This Model Is Different

The athlete real estate investment space has grown significantly in recent years. Players Company, co-founded by Richard Sherman and Sheldon Day, opened a fractional real estate program for its members through a partnership with Mogul Club. Individual athletes across the NBA and NFL have taken real estate positions as part of broader financial planning. The category is not new.

What Teammates is trying to solve is the knowledge and agency gap. Passive investment gives athletes financial exposure to real estate returns but none of the operational understanding of how those returns are generated. Active, strategic ownership means understanding the development process, the community impact, the long-term management of the asset, and the decision-making that shapes all of it.

The mission statement is direct: help athletes invest in real estate development while creating positive impact in local communities. The Mizzen in New London is that thesis in action — a significant residential project in an underserved area, led by athletes who are at the table, not just on the cap table.

What It Means for the Athlete Ownership Conversation

Craig is a journeyman NBA veteran who played for seven franchises over a decade-long career — the kind of player whose longevity in the league reflects genuine skill and adaptability, but who never became a household name. He built Teammates not from a platform handed to him by stardom, but from a problem he identified and a solution he decided to build himself.

The platform is athlete-led and community-focused. That combination is where the most durable athlete business stories tend to start.