This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
June is winding down, and in July you’ll see a big focus from us on 3 fonts: 1) the Buying Sandlot podcast, 2) our segment-specific deep dives, and, by extension, 3) our premium membership (apply to join here).
Let’s get to it!
In the email today:
💰 AdventHealth Sports Park’s Fast Start
AdventHealth Sports Park at Bluhawk says it generated $7.7M in direct economic impact through new market spend for the Kansas City metropolitan area in Q1 of 2025.
We’re told the $7.7M figure is based on event attendance x average daily hotel rate and average daily market expenditures. The complex’s revenues are not factored in.
The complex, operated by The Sports Facilities Companies, anchors a 277-acre mixed used development in Overland Park, Kansas. It opened last October— the Q1 total has it on pace to surpass the Year 1 projection of $12.3M in economic impact and five-year projection of $97M.
Close to 100 youth sports events have been booked or completed since the complex opened in October.
Data indicates 30% of sports complex visitors have extended stays for dining and retail.
James’ Take:
We rarely see numbers like these!
Charitably, economic impact estimates are often served with heaping piles of BS or best-case-scenario-isms. So it’s a positive sign for the industry when a high-profile facility says it is meeting early targets.
Of course, we don’t get press releases for facilities that fall short.
Still, the results are even more noteworthy when you consider:
None of the three hotels planned for the development (350 total rooms) are open yet. The Holiday Inn just broke ground in April.
Overland Park’s 18.1% lodging tax will come into play when they are open.
Those hotels will also benefit from 2026 World Cup tourism.
Also keep in mind: The Kansas City Chiefs and Royals have yet to decide whether they will accept Kansas’ sweetheart deal to build new stadiums in Overland Park or if the deal recently passed by the Missouri legislature is good enough to stay put.
AdventHealth Sports Park’s early success cannot hurt Overland Park’s cause.
Your Safety And Compliance Process Could be Awesome (and Easy)*
You’ve upgraded registration, comms, and scheduling, and yet player safety still lives in dusty spreadsheets and midnight “Did you do the background check?” texts.
Background checks, age verification, and training is too important to be left as a scavenger hunt.
Ankored pulls every safety task into one clean, automated workflow: onboard, train, and verify coaches, volunteers, and players in minutes.
One dashboard, zero guesswork, game-ready compliance.
*Sponsor
⚾️ LakePoint Sports Launches Youth NIL Program
It begins.
The Georgia-based youth sports complex announced the LakePoint Athlete Program — a “content-centric initiative that pairs elite youth athletes at the center of branded storytelling and media partnerships.”
LakePoint will connect athletes and its brand partners
Safeguards will be taken to educate and protect athletes and their families
LakePoint’s media team will produce all content
LakePoint, its brand partners and the athletes will distribute the content on all platforms
The first members of the program are three of nationally-ranked baseball recruits, all from Georgia— the trio will have collaborations with Curve Test Center and Rawlings Sporting Goods to start.
LakePoint said it plans to expand the program to other athletes and sports in the future.
James’ Take:
This program could prove to be an example of the upper echelon of youth sports NIL — and also a blueprint for the industry.
The expectation is most brands will not have much interest in direct youth sports NIL. Sure, there will be the Cooper Flaggs of the world, but those deals are cut when the athlete is just about to leap to college.
But in this case the brands are in business with LakePoint as much as they are with the athletes.
Kyle’s Take:
To me, the key line here is “All content will be generated by LakePoint's media team and shared across its powerful distribution channels, as well as by the athletes and partners themselves.”
LakePoint has tens of thousands of followers on most platforms and the content is generally fine. It’s better than many, but certainly not on par with what native creators or even Perfect Game put out.
I agree with James that this intermediary model could serve as a blueprint for others, but creating compelling content is hard. Most facilities, leagues, clubs, and tournament hosts aren’t good at it— certainly not good enough to engage and influence kids.
While brands may be wary about working directly with athletes, the highest ROI will come from those one-off partnerships with high-level talents who have engaging personalities and their own large following. This is where I’d refer you to our Pottstown Scout piece.
🏟️ Youth Sports’ Impact On New NFL Stadium Proposal
This note is a nifty amalgam of several common Buying Sandlot topics.
The Washington Commanders — owned by Unrivaled Sports co-founder Josh Harris — are bidding to build a new stadium on the old RFK Stadium site with assistance from the District of Columbia.
The 65K seat, roofed stadium will anchor a planned 180-acre multi-use district.
Part of that district: An $89M year-round youth sports complex.
Mayor Muriel Bowser brokered the deal with the Commanders, but it still needs City Council approval. And at least two members have said their support is conditional on youth sports-related asks, according to The Washington Post.
The city said it will work to preserve existing fields on the campus
Muriel has pledged city money to cover the entire sportsplex for youth games and tournaments
One council member said she wants the Commanders to foot some of the bill for the youth sports facility in order to get her vote
Another has a more vague request: That the city's youth “see themselves reflected” in the development and local sports economy
The plan needs seven of 12 votes to pass. Only one council member is completely against it— there are four conditional yeses, three undecided and four no votes who say they can be swayed.
Kyle’s Take:
We talked about this in our send on Wednesday: Why Youth Sports Complexes Belong in Stadium Districts.
📱 Kentucky Law Will Have HS Sports Impacts
SB 181 — which bans all Kentucky public school employees and volunteers from engaging in one-to-one electronic communication with students — takes effect today.
The law was spurred by a series of investigative reports about child sexual abuse by coaches in the state.
Coaches and teachers are still able to communicate with students on traceable platforms like Google Classroom. But the prohibition of devices or methods that are not school-approved is wide-ranging.
Case in point: Coaches and employees cannot like, comment on or repost any student social media’s content.
If a high school basketball player commits to Kentucky or Louisville and his English teacher likes the Instagram post, they would be breaking state law.
James’ Take:
The law is plenty reasonable in the big picture. And it still permits coaches to communicate with athletes, albeit perhaps not as conveniently as firing off a text message.
But Kentucky, like many states, allows high school athletes to receive NIL compensation.
Some may argue preventing coaches from promoting athletes on social media is hindering those NIL opportunities.
Or creating an environment where athletes are incentivized to attend private schools that are not subject to the law.
Both are potentially unintended consequences that lawmakers will begin to hear about — and be pressured to address.
👨🦰 Parents Behaving Badly, Down Under Edition
A woman was reportedly punched and hospitalized following an altercation at a youth rugby match in Australia.
It gets worse.
The victim was assaulted after intervening in a disturbance involving her mother, who is in a wheelchair.
🗞️ News And Notes
A youth softball umpire in South Carolina died after collapsing during a tournament game. The Sumter County Coroner’s Office said extreme heat contributed to 61-year-old Mitchell Huggins’ death. Athlete parents reportedly questioned why the games were being played prior to the incident.
Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay tackled youth sports again in his latest piece: Confessions of a Very Mediocre Youth Sports Parent.
Kyle went deep on the impact tariffs could have on the youth sports industry back in April. The Associated Press just took its own look at the issue.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
📋 Job Alert: VP of Marketing, US Sports Camps (Nike Sports Camps)
US Sports Camps, a Youth Enrichment Brands company, is looking for someone to lead their marketing efforts.
We are looking for an experienced and dynamic Vice President of Brand Marketing who is deeply passionate about consumer performance marketing strategies and tactics. The VP of Brand Marketing will lead the camps marketing team while integrating marketing leadership across all camp brands including: Nike Sports Camps, NBC Camps, USBSA Camps, CMT Learning and KE Camps This position will report to the Camps Brand President.
The position will pay $140k-$190K annually. A full job description can be found here.
If you’d like to list an open position here and reach 5,800+ youth sports professionals in a single email, email me.
We’re new— help us build up our social media accounts by following along:
Good game.