Case Study: Bründl Sports

Starting point

At premium sports retailer Bründl Sports, success depends on the energy of the staff in the shop. When employees feel empty inside, customers notice immediately. At the same time, the company runs with a very young, very seasonal workforce in tourism-exposed regions, often far from family and social networks.

The pattern was classic: first exhaustion, then sick leave, then psychotropic medication. The previous offerings and well-intentioned internal support were not enough. They were neither professional enough nor anonymous enough. Anyone who booked an appointment with a local coach was seen in the village. The threshold remained high.

For Managing Director Christoph Bründl, that was not acceptable.

Core Problem in a nutshell

Bründl needed a partner that delivered three things at the same time: highly professional counseling, full anonymity, and access so easy that the first step doesn’t end up as village gossip.

The company

Bründl Sports: Premium sports retailer, founded1956, approx. 550 employees in the winter season and approx. 380 year-round

Standorte: 30+ shops in Austria, headquarters in Kaprun

Branche: sports retail and ski rental

Partnerschaft mit Mavie Work: EAP Premium, talks on “mental health”, nature workshops

The solution

Bründl introduced Mavie Work’s EAP (Employee Assistance Program) as a core offering for all employees. Access runs through three routes:

• a QR code in the employee app,
• a link in internal communications,
• and a free 24/7 hotline.

Nobody has to go through HR or document anything.

Every employee can confidentially reach out to a Mavie counselor — about private matters (health, relationships, anxiety) just as easily as about workplace topics (conflict with a manager, time pressure, boundary violations).

The EAP core is complemented by two formats Mavie Work co-designed with Bründl: prevention workshops as part of the Bründl Academy, and multi-day nature workshops in the high mountains that combine movement with reflection.

"Highly professional, incredibly anonymous, made easy. An offering has to deliver all three. Anything less is not enough."

Christoph Bründl, Managing Director, Bründl Sports

Christoph Bründl, Managing Director, Bründl Sports

Implementation

The Mavie EAP is a top-management priority. Christoph Bründl explains the program to his employees personally and at leadership conferences. His conviction: it must come from the top, otherwise nothing happens.

At a strategy workshop with 48 leaders, two people opened up very personally and shared that they had used the EAP themselves and how it helped them. Since then, in Christoph Bründl’s words, the offering has been spreading through the organization like a positive virus. Usage is rising because leaders don’t just endorse the program — they have used it themselves.

Three levers that make the difference

Bründl Sports flagship store in Kaprun

Results in numbers*

*Source: Mavie EAP reporting 01.01.2025–31.12.2025 compared with 01.01.2026 to end of April 2026, extrapolated to 12 months.

Sick days per employee dropped from 8.6 to 7.5 in this period. Christoph Bründl’s internal calculation: one fewer sick day per employee equals around EUR 1.2 million for Bründl.

Around 50 of 550 employees actively reached out to the EAP in the first nine months of the partnership. Almost one in ten took the first step. Usage continues to rise.

Parents now actively use the program for parenting and youth coaching. 27% of counseling sessions go to family members.

How Bründl reads the data

A rising number of EAP contacts is not an alarm signal for Christoph Bründl — it’s a signal of trust. More contacts means more people dare to take the first step.

“I see myself as Chief Energy Officer. My job is to keep the energy level of 550 people high.”

Christoph Bründl, Managing Director, Bründl Sports

Premium sports retailer Bründl Sports strengthens the team with professional EAP counseling by Mavie Work.

Key learnings

✅ An offering that is not a top-management priority stays a fringe topic.

✅ Leaders are the most important multipliers. One personal opening in a strategy workshop achieves more than two years of internal communications.

✅ Anonymity is not an extra. In small towns and seasonal teams, it decides whether people use the offer at all.