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A Fortune 500 Company Doubles Down on Youth Sports Advertising
🥎 The business of youth sports
Kyle Scott
May 05, 2025
Marketing Brew
This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
In the email today:
đź—˝ New York Life Focusing On Youth Sports Growth
That buzzy youth sports survey that New York Life released a few weeks back did not happen on a lark.
The Fortune 500 company plans to leverage its partnerships with Major League Baseball and the U.S. Soccer Federation to gain a foothold in the youth sports world.
Some of the moves so far with more expected:
Presenting sponsor of the Little League Community Heroes program
Presenting sponsor of the US Youth Soccer Championships
Using the company’s 12K agents as community brand ambassadors to local organizations
From Marketing Brew:
“We have 12,000 brand ambassadors out there, and a lot of them are Little League coaches,” [NY Life CMO Amy] Hu said. “A lot of them have kids who play soccer. So we’re building these local community programs that will extend the storytelling, the fan experience, into a local area.”
My take:
I’m always a little skeptical of buzzy marketing speak.
But, there is something notable in that “storytelling” line.
Marketing execs realize that youth sports represent the end touchpoint of larger brand campaigns at the pro level.
The rapid consolidation in the space allows for more of these efforts to be part of a single campaign.
A local baseball-softball facility operator I spoke to recently likened youth sports to the Catholic Church— you have the main governing body (shoutout to me rage-watching Conclave sometime this week), and then the local dioceses and parishes.
In youth sports, the large organizations - like Little League or Ripken Baseball - are the Vatican, which sets the rules and provides the structure. The local leagues, teams, and clubs are the dioceses where the interaction takes place.
For advertisers, this integration is getting noticed. The reach of large organizations delivers the core message, and then the affiliate groups drive it home.
We’ll see more of this.
Just please don’t try to sell me on annuities during the post-game snack fracas.
🏢 Youth Sports Facilities News
Ashland, Oregon: The city will overhaul its youth sports rental fee structure as part of a plan to overcome $1.4M in cuts to its parks and recreation department. Leagues typically paid a flat fee of $150-$250 per season— the town now plans to charge them hourly rental rates. The move has generated significant community pushback.
Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin: A three-phase concept to overhaul the Milwaukee suburb’s Cahill Square Park has been proposed. The $8M plan includes an 8,000-square-foot turf hall with retractable nets for year-round practice, full concessions and major overhauls to the park’s baseball and tennis facilities.
™️ Trend Watch: Girls Flag Football
Missouri is on the verge of becoming the 17th state to sanction girls flag football.
It will be classified as an “emerging sport” this fall in Missouri, where it’s a 3-step process to become a fully inner-scholastic sport like baseball and football.
From the report:
So, emerging sport is just the first step in the process. It's a three-step process; it goes from emerging to provisionally fully inner-scholastic, and then it becomes fully inner-scholastic."
Kauffman says that for girls' flag football to become a sanctioned sport, it will need support from schools in their eight board districts.
50 or more schools in three of the eight districts will need to be registered for girls flag football for the sports to advance.
My take:
I’m fascinated by this trend, mostly because a slight twist on an existing sport - tackle vs. flag - opened up a whole new opportunity for a different gender.
The NFL is leading the way here. And their interest shows youth investment from pro leagues is not just about creating a pipeline of talent, since female participation in the NFL is effectively impossible outside of maybe the kicker or punter position.
👨‍🦰 Parents Behaving Badly
A Texas woman is accused of assaulting a child during a spectator brawl at a youth sports game.
Maria Yesenia Lira, 39, faces a misdemeanor assault charge after the incident at Brownsville Sports Park near the southern border with Mexico. She allegedly pushed a kid during the melee and the kids’ parents pressed charges.
🏢 Philly Inquirer Op-Ed Reinforces Need For Better Coaching
Valencia Peterson, or “Coach V”, is the founder and executive director of Open Door Abuse Awareness and Prevention (ODAAP), a nonprofit organization that uses sports as a platform to teach youth about violence prevention, leadership, and healthy relationships.
She recently penned an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the need for properly trained coaches in Philly, lest the city waste its $3 million in funding for youth sports initiatives to curb violence.
Without trauma-informed training, coaches are left to navigate the challenges of working with at-risk youth on their own. Many do so admirably, but too often, toxic coaching practices — whether intentional or not — persist.
…
Philadelphia stands at a crossroads. If we truly want to reduce violence and create lasting change, we cannot afford to take a surface-level approach. As we look forward to new fields and expanded sports opportunities, let us not forget that real transformation happens through the people who lead these programs. Trauma-informed coaching is not an optional add-on — it is the foundation upon which effective, impactful, and life-changing youth sports must be built.
She says cities like Boston and LA that have properly trained coaches have seen youth violence reduced by 25%-40%.
In December, Philly mayor Cherelle Parker announced the $3 million investment, which will be funneled to many areas of the youth sports stack in the city.
My take:
Many of us think about coach training as related only to quality of skill instruction, or the psychology of sports.
But in urban areas, proper training starts with being able to handle at-risk teens.
This is yet another voice - from the NBA to local non-profit leaders - saying that coach training must be commensurate with investment in youth sports.
Tons of opportunity for companies and investors in skills training, compliance, rating and accreditation services.
đź”— More Youth Sports Links
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đź“‹ Job Alert: Staff Accountant, Unrivaled Sports
Someone has to balance the books for the behemoth!
As a Staff Accountant at Unrivaled Sports, you will play a critical role in supporting our multi-entity accounting operations during a period of rapid expansion. Reporting to the Accounting Manager, you’ll take ownership of core general ledger processes, month-end close, and financial analysis across our diverse and growing set of operating companies. You’ll be expected to work independently, bring process improvements to life, and ensure accurate, timely reporting that enables strong decision-making and financial stewardship.
The job pays $65-70K a year and is a remote position. You can find the full posting on LinkedIn.
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