Tim Tebow paused his ties with Life Surge after a report revealed an alleged scam. Now the company is pushing back on the investigation that put its business under the spotlight. In a new statement, Life Surge said that Tebow’s name was the reason the story got so much attention. At the same time, it confirmed the stance by the former Florida QB of distancing himself from the company.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“Life Surge is not big enough to draw a million podcast views on its own,” the company said in a statement. “Nobody in the national media cares that much about a one-day event in Columbus or Atlanta. So, this story was packaged around the most trusted Christian voice in American sports, and Tim Tebow’s name is what made it travel.”
A September 24 report by Pablo Torre and Mother Jones examined claims of high-pressure sales at Life Surge events. Customers and employees told Torre they were worried about how the company sold expensive investing courses to people at events built around Christian faith and financial success.
The team talked to customers and current and former employees, reviewed online complaints, and attended events. Complaints allegedly surfaced on Reddit, in a Facebook group called Life Surge Complaints with around 1,300 members, and with the FTC and the Better Business Bureau. Five current and former employees also said they had concerns about the sales practices.
Tebow said on September 25 that he was pausing his relationship with Life Surge while his team looked into the claims. The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner said the reporting caught him off guard and called the allegations “extremely, extremely serious.”
He found out about the investigation while he was at an anti-human-trafficking conference. He had declined to comment when the reporters first reached out, and he said his goal at Life Surge events was to share his Christian faith and the gospel.
That puts Tebow in a tough spot because he has spoken at Life Surge events for years, and now the company’s sales practices are being questioned. Life Surge says his role was never about selling anything.
“We love Tim,” Life Surge added. “He has stood on our stages for years, his compensation has never been tied to the sale of anything, and what he brings to a crowd is a call to serve Jesus and to serve others. He has chosen to pause with Life Surge while his team gets to the facts, and we understand.”
Life Surge CEO Jeremy Nosek said the company respects Tebow’s decision to pause. He also said the company disagrees with how the reporting described it.
The company is trying to keep Tebow’s message apart from the business Torre looked into. It says its headline speakers aren’t asked to promote its advanced training, and that Tebow was never paid based on course sales. It also says it doesn’t support using religious beliefs to pressure customers into buying.
Tebow hasn’t admitted to doing anything wrong, nor has he said whether he knew about the alleged practices.
Life Surge defends its business
Life Surge mixes Christian speakers, worship music, motivational talks, and financial lessons. One-day event tickets reportedly cost around $20, as the company explained in a previous statement, and after that, attendees are offered classes on stock investing and real estate. The investigation found that the bigger SurgeU packages could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Life Surge started in 2020 and holds about 30 one-day events a year. It reported 117,000 attendees at those events in 2025. The classes that follow are three-day sessions costing $97, and SurgeU packages were reported to range from $10,000 to $40,000.
Some former customers told the reporters they felt pressured to buy and took on debt to pay for it. One couple said they borrowed on cards with introductory zero-percent rates, and the interest jumped much higher later; others said they never made the money they hoped for.
Torre’s investigation also pointed to how often Tebow showed up and reported that he spoke at more than 20 Life Surge events in 2026. The company won’t say what it pays its speakers, due to contractual obligations, but it says Tebow wasn’t paid based on sales.
Torre said his team asked 14 sports figures who were paid to speak at or promote Life Surge for comment. Representatives of several wrote back, but no one sent a statement. Magic Johnson, Joe Montana, Sage Steele, Jeff Foxworthy, and the Benham Brothers were also named in the investigation as speakers.
For now, Life Surge is defending itself and criticizing how the story spread. Tebow’s team is looking into the claims, and neither the company’s statement nor Tebow’s pause settles what’s being alleged.