This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
We have surpassed 6,500 subscribers, and we’re just getting started. Lots of good stuff coming soon, tons of great podcast guests lined up, and fall sponsorship opportunities are filling fast.
Big send, leggo!
In the email today:
🤝 AIM, BASE Sports Groups Form Partnership
BASE, a sponsorship sales agency dedicated to youth and community sports, will work with AIM to connect brands with the firm's multi-platform portfolio.
AIM’s holdings include:
130K-square-foot complex in Orange County, California
SoCal boys volleyball league with over 5K athletes
Trio of national SoCal Cup volleyball events (600+ teams) with over 220K annual spectators
AIM is also about to enter the youth sports tech race.
AIM+ will launch this fall. The platform will produce box scores, stats, rankings and highlights.
BASE Sports Group co-founder Mark Dvoroznak: “From the scale of its national events to the sophistication of its programming, AIM is a standout in youth sports. AIM is a genuinely innovative operation – not just because of its assets, but because of its DNA. The team at AIM uniquely understand the dynamics of Gen A athletics, so its venue, league, tournaments, and tech platform are all built around elevating the youth sports experience. These communities are highly sought after by future-facing brands, and brand investment will not only enhance the experience, it will fuel growth. We’re proud to partner with AIM and look forward to helping them maximize these opportunities.”
AIM Sports Group founder John Gallegos: “AIM’s portfolio is built to elevate the sports experience, and as we expanded we recognized the opportunity to align with a partner with a keen sense of collaborative branding and sponsor-driven relationships that benefit everyone involved. BASE has a proven track record of positioning and elevating youth sports events and properties while preserving the integrity of the athlete experience. We’re excited to grow with them.”
🎥 Treating Youth Sports Events Like A ‘Studio’
LENZ Sports Group, a youth sports firm with consulting, merchandising and event management divisions has announced a strategic partnership with Arvelo Media, a digital media and branding company co-founded by college football analyst/influencer Adam Breneman.
The goal is to connect LENZ’s clients and events with Arvelo’s social media services.
“We’re kind of sitting on this pool of large tournaments, large events and all this content,” LENZ co-founder and COO Matthew Wray said. “Arvelo is doing the college space and the NIL space really well. It’s almost a bridging there.”
Wray believes there is a glaring need for more youth sports content and coverage, not unlike the content Perfect Game puts out from its tournaments.
LENZ has invested in local media platforms that report on high school sports and wants to get more out of the tournaments it operates.
Wray said his long-term goal would be Hard Knocks-style programming for youth and high school sports.
“I like to look at [our events] like a studio,” he said. “That’s 70 teams in one spot, there’s 10,000 people there. What scenes can we capture, what storylines?”
Ah yes, someone read the Pottstown Scout article.
Another angle: Wray wants to equip organizations to explain their value and could envision an environment where a travel ball team is reviewed on social media in the same way a new restaurant would be.
“There is no information on any of these teams, so I think people only play on teams by word of mouth,” he said. “That leads to people paying $6,000 to play here, having a terrible experience and then they jump to the next team. And then you look at these athletes who have played on like seven teams from the time they are 10 to 18.”
💸 Arizona Tourism Board Gives Portion of $6.3M to Local Sports Leagues
Fascinating item here.
The Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority is doling out $6.3M in grants to schools and youth sports organizations thanks to a record $14M in revenue generated by State Farm Stadium (home of the Cardinals and the turf that cost the Eagles Super Bowl 57), which it owns.
The money will go out to more than 36 sports-related projects across the county.
You read a lot of headlines about how X revenues will fund Y projects— but it’s good to see the results.
⚽️ Scotts Wants More Grass on the Field
Artificial turf fields are a cornerstone of the youth sports industry.
But Scotts — the lawn care people, not the toilet paper folks — wants to keep the real grass growing, too.
The company has partnered with Every Kid Counts and USMNT captain Tyler Adams for the “Keep it Real” sweepstakes.
The initiative will provide natural turf refurbishment projects for five youth sports non-profit groups nationwide over the next two weeks. Scotts also announced it will soon sell specialized kits to revitalize natural grass playing surfaces.
Most sports — and soccer in particular — play better on natural grass.
It is much safer from a soft tissue injury standpoint.
And how can you not have at least passing concern about the potential health impacts of running around on chopped-up tires and plastic, especially in extreme heat?
But you can’t run a 100-team baseball tournament on grass. Or, really. do anything at an industry-standard scale on a natural surface.
Well, you could. But it would require perfect weather, an excellent (and well-compensated) grounds crew and tournament directors with the intestinal fortitude of air traffic controllers.
That is a lot to ask. Which is why turf will probably keep winning out in most cases unless something drastically changes in terms of knowledge about health and safety risks.
We will go deeper on this topic later this year.
🏈 Unrivaled Sports’ Latest Flag Football Statement
Another major event is on tap at ForeverLawn Park by Unrivaled Sports in Canton, Ohio.
The inaugural Gold Jacket Classic will be held on July 31 in conjunction with the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s enshrinement weekend.
Boys and girls tournaments
Ages 6U through 17U
Pool play, playoffs and championships
Top teams in each division earn half-paid bids to the 2026 Youth Flag Football Championships in Orlando
Unrivaled will also give all athletes a ticket to the Hall of Fame Game, admission to the HOF and a seat at the enshrinement ceremony.
Unrivaled held its first Flag High School Girls Nationals at ForeverLawn Park last month. The stats it shared then:
81K youth athletes in Unrivaled flag programming this year -- a 25% YoY increase
A 77% YoY increase in Unrivaled flag events
Over 200 Unrivaled-affiliated leagues in 21 states
Programming in 33 states overall
Flag is so hot right now.
🧱 The Real ‘Friday Night Lights’ Town Is Getting A Youth Sports Complex
The Odessa (Texas) City Council moved the chains on a proposed 140K-square-foot multi-sport facility earlier this week for the hometown of the world-famous Permian High Panthers.
The council gave city officials the go-ahead to enter talks to secure a design firm. It also signed off on $40M in certificates of obligation to be sold as a funding source.
That makes the complex a $115M project on paper since $75M in leftover COO funds, general funds and hotel occupancy tax revenues were previously pledged.
The plans call for:
30 pickleball courts
20 volleyball courts
10 basketball courts
Portable 200M banked track
12 football/lacrosse/soccer fields
Up to 8 baseball/softball fields
Conference rooms and fitness centers
Office and retail space
A cafe
Athletic training/physical therapy space
We’d typically point out that Odessa is a bit far-flung from a geographic demand standpoint in this space. But when you have oil money, that does not matter as much.
📱GameChanger Gets Some App Store Glory
The youth sports platform was featured as the App of the Day yesterday in Apple’s U.S app store.
Note the tag line: “GameChanger makes live-streaming easy.”
The Dick’s Sporting Goods-owned platform has many functions, but streaming is what it has become known for. GameChanger has already emerged as the top youth sports streamer outside of Facebook and YouTube, but the market share in a very fragmented space is only about 10%.
That will change with adoption, though. And getting kudos from Apple helps.
🗞️ The NYT Effect
I received a little bit of pushback and probably a couple of eye-rolls to my comment about The NY Times article on Wednesday further fueling the youth sports boom.
I wrote: “There will be derivative coverage of the space, all citing the NYT story. At first, this will elevate interest, increase valuations, and add some froth.”
Pictured here: derivative content, from business reporter Jane King, whose company delivers syndicated business reports from the floor of the NYSE. In this case, delivering the exact same report to news stations in Indiana and Connecticut— with data and cadence directly matching the NYT report, though without directly citing it.
Why? Professional prompter readers are hard-up for content and will promptly parrot any press release, study, or in-depth report without a critical eye.
Everything was vanilla here, but mainstream articles like the NYT one set off a daisy chain of news stories and public interest in a given topic.
For now, the headlines are “cash in” and “money spinner.” Bullish. But in two years, they’ll be “the ills of pay to play.” Bearish.
🏢 More Youth Sports Facilities News And Notes
Officials in Morrilton, Arkansas, are proposing a $3.5M baseball and softball complex.
The project would be paid for with private donations and grants. It would only have four fields. But officials said they believe it could be a sports tourism hub for regional tournaments.
The city’s current baseball and softball fields would then be converted into a soccer-focused complex.
Morrilton is about a 50-minute drive from Little Rock, two hours from Fayetteville and two-and-a-half from Memphis. Officials want to build the complex in a district that includes some existing dining and lodging locations.
👨🦰 Parents Behaving Badly
A 68-year-old softball umpire in New York state was attacked by a spectator in the parking lot following a game.
Carlos Chaluisant told WBNG-TV in Binghamton: "He approached me, I then tried to defend myself and he kicked me off my feet. I fell on the floor, and he swiped me with his hand on my face."
Chaluisant went to the hospital due to pain, but all tests were clear. The alleged assailant was given an appearance ticket in court.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
📋 Job Alert: VP of Football, Americas — IMG
The global sports giant is hiring a VP to oversee its football (soccer) operations in the Americas. The listed responsibilities include:
Development of the America’s strategy with the leadership teams of Football, Commercial and Strategy
Identify new revenue opportunities through traditional and non-traditional business routes as foundation for growth in the region
Build on the existing football strategy to grow football related revenues in the region
Work together with VP, Football MENA, & VP, Football Europe & Africa to manage and build senior relationships within football environment (local leagues, federations, and confederations)
A full job listing can be found on LinkedIn.
Also, a bonus job: PlayAnnapolis is seeking a new executive director to oversee youth recreation and sports in Maryland’s capital city. The position is hybrid and part-time (up to 30 hours a week), but will pay $50K-$70K based on experience. The application deadline is July 15. The full job listing can be found here.
If you’d like to list an open position here and reach 6,500 youth sports professionals in a single email, email me.
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Good game.