This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
We ran this poll on Friday with an overwhelmingly positive response. Running it one more time for those who didn’t get a chance to respond on Friday.
If Buying Sandlot hosted a Youth Sports Business Conference in Philadelphia next spring (2-day event), how likely would you be to attend?
In the email today:
⚽️ Sources: Surf Sports Takes Stake in Rush Soccer
Sources tell us Pioneer Sports and Entertainment, owners of Surf Soccer, has acquired a stake in Rush Soccer, which says it is the largest youth soccer club in the world with over 125 clubs spread across 50 countries and 55k athletes.
Details are very sparse, and there is little information available on Pioneer beyond what’s on its website: “ownership and administration of sports clubs, entertainment events, tournaments, facilities, operations, and software solutions.”
Surf was founded in San Diego in the 1970s as a single club and has now grown to 50+ clubs across the US.
“Everything we’re trying to do is be the best of the best. It’s our mantra,” [Enge said]. “When we have events, we want to make sure it’s the coolest, best experience for kids and for coaches and families. When we run our club, we want to make sure we’re developing the most college players and national team players and winning the most championships.”
Messages to Enge where not immediately returned.
Pioneer’s involvement in Rush has been described as a strategic investor and operator that will bring its political prowess in the changing landscape of youth sports.
Pioneer also looks to have a stake in Athlete Travel and Athlete One.
Rush, originally founded in Colorado and currently headquartered in New York, appears to have a high concentration of East Coast and Midwest clubs, based on this map from their website:
It’s unclear how the organization will handle club naming or if consolidation will occur in overlapping markets.
We’ll aim to get more on this story.
📊 IMG Academy Expands Ties With PlayerData
IMG will introduce the wearable performance tracking technology to more of its programs this coming academic year.
Soccer has been using PlayerData for a year
Basketball, football, lacrosse, softball and volleyball will be added
About 1K IMG athletes in total will use the tech
PlayerData will build a solar-powered “connected arena” around IMG’s dozen-plus soccer pitches to enable real-time data access.
The basketball teams will use portable local positioning system tech that operates indoors without GPS.
IMG and PlayerData will also collaborate on soft launches for softball- and volleyball-specific in-app experiences.
⚾️ Perfect Game Launches Charitable Wing
PG announced the Believe in Baseball Foundation — a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization "dedicated to providing underprivileged children with the resources and support they need to participate in local travel baseball programs."
PG Commissioner Dennis Gilbert, a longtime philanthropist, will oversee the foundation
A kickoff event will be held early next year at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles featuring athletes and celebrities
Actor Ian Ziering, a member of the foundation’s board, will host
Believe in Baseball will offer tax-deductible support opportunities for individuals and organizations
The foundation plans to break down barriers to participation through equipment grants, financial aid and partnerships with local travel teams.
🏀 Nike Hosts 1st NX3 Tourney At WNBA All-Star Game
The sneaker giant sponsored a pop-up girls 3-on-3 hoops tournament over the weekend in Indianapolis.
It was a one-day event; the outdoor court was placed on a downtown street. The tourney was promoted as the inaugural NX3 event. Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark presented the championship trophy.
📋 Job Alert: Events Coordinator, IMG Academy
IMG Academy is hiring an events coordinator "responsible for the planning and execution of events both on and off IMG Academy campus."
The team of Event Coordinators guide the day-to-day operations of approximately 250 events annually. This position reports directly to the Events Manager (and will) coordinate and execute external events contracted by the Sales department, as well as internal events for the Sports departments, with a primary focus on Soccer and Track & Field.
The position is based at IMG’s Bradenton, Florida, campus. A full job posting can be found on LinkedIn.
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