This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
This week, we launched our latest podcast with GameChanger President and Dick’s SVP Sameer Ahuja.
We felt that a major product update from a leading tech platform deserved its own dedicated email, which we sent on Tuesday. What we didn’t bank on was the wide-ranging discussion on the youth sports market with someone so well-positioned to talk about it.
So here now are our 8 BIG TAKEAWAYS - with data and analysis - from my interview with Sameer Ahuja:
Listen to the Podcast
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I’m aware that only a small percentage of our 15,096 subscribers will watch or listen in-full.
So we bring to you, the reader, 8 BIG TAKEAWAYS from my conversation with Sameer Ahuja.
1) The Market Is Massive
Quotes are lightly edited for clarity
“One of the numbers often quoted is a $40 billion market. We did a little bit more digging— just our own analysis to see if we could get more refined. We think at least 30 of that $40 billion figure is parent spend. And then the rest of it might be school spend.
“That number people have said goes to 70 at the end of the decade or later. I believe that. We actually think those numbers are pretty reasonable. And so if you're in 50, 60, 70 billion of dollar spend, which could mean revenues for companies— outside of sporting goods and some of those things, you really don't have companies anywhere near that.
“So if you said to me there could be 5-10 companies at a billion of revenue, I wouldn't bat an eyelid.”
I’ll do it for him:
Giphy
For context, some large companies in youth sports:
Hudl’s revenue was estimated to be $730M as of 2024, and SeekingAlpha estimated their value to be over $3B as of the same year
Varsity Brands’ revenue is reported to be $2.7B
GameChanger forecasts $150M in annual revenue for 2025
LiveBarn has agreed to be acquired for $400M based on $80M in revenue
SportsEngine is rumored to be valued at $400M-$500M
Unrivaled Sports was valued at $650M in its latest funding round
In other words, 5-10 companies at $1 billion+ in revenue would represent a massive step up through some combination of growth and consolidation in the industry. This is early innings.
2) The Streaming Opportunity Is Bigger Than You Were Expecting
“A fun stat we like to say is every month or two on GameChanger, more games are covered than have been played in the entire history of American professional sports.”
Gif by IntoAction on Giphy
No jelly here.
Back of the napkin math on how big the youth sports streaming market is (spoiler: big!):
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