The hundreds who gathered on Saturday on the Wells Fargo Heart in Philadelphia weren’t there for a basketball or hockey recreation. As an alternative, the 21,000-seat enviornment performed host to a really totally different spectacle. The stage was bathed in lights, Christian pop thundered from the audio system and the congregation filed in to listen to not simply sermons, but in addition methods: how one can get proper with God and get wealthy doing so.
The billed headliners have been 5 present and former members of the Tremendous Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Head coach Nick Sirianni, star operating again Saquon Barkley, second-year cornerback Cooper DeJean, and longtime fan favorites Brandon Graham and Brian Dawkins all appeared on promotional supplies for Life Surge, a touring Christian monetary seminar that guarantees attendees a blueprint “to develop and use wealth for Kingdom impression”. Ticket packages providing photograph ops with the gamers offered out upfront.
Within the prolonged afterglow of the Eagles’ Tremendous Bowl beatdown of the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, it was a advertising no-brainer: there will not be 5 public figures with increased reputation in the intervening time in Philadelphia, a metropolis the place sports activities have all the time meant a bit of an excessive amount of.
But for all of the religious rhetoric and NFL star energy, Life Surge was constructed on a enterprise mannequin repeatedly criticized in investigative studies by the Guardian, the Philadelphia Inquirer and others as one which makes use of religion and movie star as bait for high-cost monetary mentorships. The person behind the operation, Joe Johnson, is a self-described “serial entrepreneur” whose previous ventures have been topic to lawsuits, tax controversies and accusations of exploiting Christian values for revenue.
Johnson has declined requests for interviews however instructed the Inquirer, which revealed an in depth investigation into Life Surge final week, that his failures taught him to change into a greater enterprise chief. But critics describe a sample that goes again years. Johnson was beforehand an govt at Get Motivated, a now defunct seminar firm that offered costly investing courses wrapped in conservative Christian branding. One former attendee, Amy Wolfe, mentioned Johnson persuaded her to mortgage him $12m beneath the guise of mentorship. She says she by no means acquired it again. “They’re predators who wish to be your mentors,” Wolfe instructed the Inquirer. “It occurred to me.”
The mannequin has hardly modified. Life Surge presents low-cost entry – typically as little as $19 – however attendees are quickly inspired to join $97 “starter” seminars, then pitched on superior coaching packages that may run as excessive as $40,000. Bank card purposes are sometimes made obtainable on-site and attendees have reported being inspired to money out retirement accounts or go into debt. One man, a Christian minister named John Simmons, in contrast the environment to a timeshare presentation. When he posted a essential YouTube evaluate of his expertise, Life Surge despatched him cease-and-desist letters and takedown notices. Social media platforms like Reddit are stuffed with horror tales claiming the group preys on the religion of financially naive Christians.
On Saturday in Philadelphia, throughout the road from the stadium the place the Eagles will elevate their second Tremendous Bowl banner in September, the occasion’s branding emphasised religion, success and patriotism, however rigorously prevented any official affiliation with the staff or the NFL. Earlier variations of promotional art work used team-style typography and labelled Sirianni the “Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach”. These references have been scrubbed after questions arose in March. A staff spokesperson went on to inform the Inquirer that the Eagles had no affiliation with the occasion. Nonetheless, the message was clear: these have been NFL champions backing the product.
When DeJean was requested concerning the Life Surge occasion after an Eagles observe session final week, the Tremendous Bowl hero mentioned merely, “They got here to my administration staff.” The opposite 4 didn’t remark. A Life Surge spokesperson confirmed that every one 5 have been paid a flat look charge however declined to say how a lot.
This was not a one-off. A 2022 Guardian report from a Life Surge occasion in Denver painted a strikingly comparable image: a day of worship music, motivational audio system and calls to “surge your wealth” as a Christian obligation. “Develop your religion to develop what you are promoting,” one session instructed. The previous NFL star and evangelical hero Tim Tebow, actuality TV star Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty and different conservative Christian luminaries like Kayleigh McEnany crammed out this system, whereas the group dined on Chick-fil-A. At one level, a speaker requested, “Why on earth are we not shopping for Twitter?” and inspired the viewers to pool their assets to battle “the satan” taking on American tradition. Monetary success, attendees have been instructed, was not simply private; it was religious warfare.
Life Surge’s Philadelphia spectacle additionally echoed a newer playbook in Columbus, the school city the place the Ohio State Buckeyes soccer staff conjures up a non secular fervor. There, the group tapped into native sporting legends with former Buckeyes coach City Meyer, broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit and several other Ohio State soccer gamers. Based on the Rooster, attendees paid as much as $997 for a ticket, with an opportunity to win photograph ops with the celebs. In the meantime, audio system pitched $97 funding courses on the world ground and despatched card readers by means of the concession strains. The soccer figures didn’t instantly endorse the seminars, however their proximity to the model helped entice and validate the group. The identical beauty firewall between pitchmen and athletes was seen in each cities.
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At each cease, Life Surge seems to observe the identical formulation: emotionally charged Christian messaging, conservative speaking factors and monetary guarantees, all propped up by native sports activities heroes. It capabilities as a touring prosperity gospel roadshow, whereas denying that’s what it’s. Audio system at latest tour stops have included a few of the NFL’s most recognizable names, similar to Joe Montana and Emmitt Smith, whereas the Corridor of Famer turned broadcaster Michael Strahan is on the slate for subsequent month’s occasion in Newark, New Jersey.
Beneath the stagecraft and scripture, Johnson’s report tells a special story. His earlier corporations, together with the Welfont Group, an actual property agency that marketed doubtful tax shelters, have been sued repeatedly. Public information present at the least six circumstances the place courts discovered that value determinations have been inflated to artificially enhance deductions, finally costing shoppers hundreds of thousands. Johnson insists he left Welfont earlier than the lawsuits started and says he has no data of pending authorized actions. However courtroom paperwork present the offers in query occurred whereas he was CEO.
Along with Welfont, Johnson ran a sequence of Christian-themed nonprofits and funding initiatives that folded amid controversy. One charity, which claimed to supply microloans in growing international locations, spent most of its finances on govt salaries and fundraising, in response to a Tampa Bay Occasions investigation. One other declared chapter with $16m in money owed.
Regardless of this path of ventures, Life Surge has flourished since its 2019 launch in Palmetto, Florida, not as a ministry however as a for-profit restricted legal responsibility firm. It offered greater than 100,000 tickets for occasions in additional than two dozen cities final yr and boasts a 98% satisfaction fee, in response to inside surveys. Its spokespeople level to glowing Google opinions and Trustpilot scores. But the sample of complaints persists, from attendees who felt blindsided by the prices, to critics who say the seminars masks old school hucksterism in a veneer of righteousness.
For the Eagles’ devoted supporters, many who wore team-branded gear to Saturday’s occasion, the presence of their heroes on that stage was certainly a thrill. For Life Surge, it was a promotional coup. However for these within the viewers already struggling financially, the actual price will not be clear till lengthy after the music fades and the world empties out.
