A Youth Sports Streaming Platform Is On The Market

🥎 The business of youth sports

Author

Kyle Scott
May 22, 2025

This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.

Big send ahead of the holiday weekend here. And I’m super excited to launch our podcast today! Keep scrolling for the first episode and subscribe links.

Let’s get to it.

In the email today:

⛸ The Sports Facilities Companies Goes Big On The Ice

courtesy Sports Facilities Companies

The Sports Facilities Companies announced this morning it will take over 13 ice rinks and two community centers across 11 states previously operated by Rink Management Services.

RMS operational leadership and staff will transition into the SFC network. RMS will maintain a small portfolio of lease agreements and collaborate with SFC on strategic opportunities.

SFC now manages 20 rinks nationwide.

The acquired SFC facilities:

  • Bryant Park Winter Village Ice Rink – New York

  • Industry City Ice Rink – New York

  • Lloyd Center Ice Rink – Portland, Oregon

  • Metro Park Toledo Glass City Ice & Roller – Toledo, Ohio

  • Wichita Ice Center – Wichita, Kansas

  • Parks Mall at Arlington – Arlington, Texas

  • Ice Skate USA Memorial City – Houston, Texas

  • Ice in Paradise – Goleta, California

  • Breslow Ice Hockey Center – Lincoln, Nebraska

  • Waconia Ice Arena – Waconia, Minnesota

  • Elevance Health Rink at Bicentennial Plaza – Indianapolis

  • Washington Harbour Ice Rink – Washington, D.C.

  • McCormick Tribune Ice Rink – Chicago

  • Romulus Athletic Center – Romulus, Michigan

  • Safari Island Community Center – Waconia, Minnesota

SFC — already the nation’s largest event/recreation/sports venue manager — is a behemoth that keeps getting bigger.

The company said it now has close to 100 managed venues, about 4K employees and produces close to $1B in economic impact annually across its network with 30M guest visits.

SFC recently partnered with Perfect Game for a youth clinic at the SEC Baseball Tournament and is also working on the proposed Branson, Missouri youth sports complex we wrote about last week.

📺 Hockey Streaming Platform LiveBarn Is For Sale

Staying on the ice … LiveBarn, a youth sports streaming platform that specializes in hockey but also covers other sports, has reportedly retained Raymond James to explore a sale.

The service has partnerships with over 1.9K facilities in the U.S. and Canada. It owns several other streaming brands and already has taken on private equity investment from Ares and Susquehanna.

Remember: A pre-pandemic analysis projected the youth sports streaming industry would be worth $5.5B by 2024. We are probably well beyond that at this point.

My take:

Tip of the spear - er, iceberg - here.

While some areas of the space seem to be in the fragmentation stage of the boom - like the sport-specific coaching apps we featured yesterday - there’s a clear need for consolidation among the many tech platforms, video and streaming services.

I spoke to one person yesterday who is trying to solve the problem of parents having too many logins for the Big Box apps, for example.

Video is no better— GameChanger for this, LiveBarn for that, NFHS for something else. At some point the economics of bundling these feeds into a unified experience called Youth Sports TV™ or ESPN 12: The Doce makes too much sense.

Of course, we don’t know the financials of LiveBarn— is a sale necessary or are they just trying to suck in some of that tasty froth in the market? Guessing it’s the latter, but if any birdies know, feel free to email me [email protected]!

⚾️ Perfect Game Partners With Keep Calm & Baseball On

PG announced a collaboration with KC&BO, a Dallas-based youth development and tournament operator.

Of note: KC&BO’s signature World Series event with Flower Mound Youth Sports Association will now operate under the PG umbrella and be called Perfect Game World Series — The Natty Texas Style, Powered by KC&BO. Short and sweet— I like it.

KC&BO owner Tracy Black will become a Special Ambassador for Perfect Game in North Texas. KC&BO will continue to operate certain events for other local baseball associations through the PG affiliate program.

🔊 New Podcast

Excited to announce the launch of the Buying Sandlot Podcast today.

Consider it an extension of everything we’re doing in the newsletter.

First up? An interview with Tony Caudill, co-founder of Duesy, a text-first payments and communication platform for youth sports clubs and tournaments.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and please leave a 5-star review on your platform of choice.

Subscribe links:

📊 Poll

Earlier this week we asked you which premium offerings would be of most interest.

Your responses… didn’t help narrow things down:

One thing we will do in the near-term is a community forum, as I’ve had countless readers reach out and ask about connecting with X segment of the audience. Which platform would you prefer to use?

Which platform would you most prefer to use?

Choose one:

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

✌️ The Site of Woodstock ‘99 May Become A Massive Youth Sports Complex

Officials in upstate New York are proposing a 400K-square-foot indoor facility at Griffiss International Airport, a former Air Force base in Rome best known for hosting the controversial music festival decades ago (we highly recommend the Netflix documentary series).

The project — dubbed “The Runway” — would aim to be the nation’s second-largest youth sports facility. It would occupy the biggest unoccupied hangar on the grounds and be set up to host roughly a dozen sports.

The proposed complex would have a slew of other amenities, including eateries, lodging and a potential brewery and distillery.

My take:

If you were asked where the potential second-biggest youth sports complex in the nation should be built, our guess is Rome would not make your top-250 destinations.

But there is a lot going on up there for a town that is far closer to Canada than Times Square.

Syracuse is about 45 minutes away. Turning Stone Resort Casino — which regularly books big-time comedians and other entertainment acts and is expanding — is 20 minutes away.

And Chobani — the greek yogurt giant — recently announced it will build a $1.2B plant in Rome and create at least 2.5K jobs between construction workers and full-time employees.

So yes, a massive youth sports complex could definitely work in the region and potentially pull in visitors from around the Northeast. Hopefully the bathroom situation will be better than Woodstock ‘99.

🏢 Other Youth Sports Facilities News

Buford, Georgia: You are looking live at a $62M high school football stadium. The powerhouse Buford High program will move in this fall. The complex reportedly also has six practice fields and a separate JV field.

Zillah, Washington: City officials unveiled plans for a year-round, multi-sport outdoor complex with all-weather turf. The Zillah Sports Hub would have facilities for baseball, softball, soccer, football and other sports. Officials are targeting a 2030 opening and believe the complex could serve as a regional magnet— Zillah is roughly three hours from all major cities in the region.

Tucson, Arizona: Rillito Park — a horse racing facility that has not been in operation for several years — could be replaced with youth playing fields. It is part of a regional park that already has fields— Pima County officials currently say they plan to eventually bring racing back.

Palm Beach County, Florida: A proposed $5-an-hour field usage fee on local youth leagues is generating pushback. The county claims the charge is needed to fund maintenance and operational costs. A local league said it believes the fee would increase its annual registration costs by close to 30% and could reduce participation by hundreds of families.

Kalamazoo, Michigan: The $40M indoor complex project powered by hotel assessments — not a tax! — is moving along. A search committee to identify a construction site has been created. There are reportedly three potential locations in play— one is near the Kalamazoo Airport but the other two remain undisclosed.

👨‍🦰 Parents Behaving Badly

If you coach youth softball and you end up on Good Morning America — you have either done something really good or really bad.

A 5-foot-10 fifth-grader hit a line drive in an 11-year-old game in Oregon. Two opposing coaches then stormed the field — all caught on tape through GameChanger — and began questioning her age.

One coach demanded to “see birth certificates” in order to continue the contest.

The coaches also allegedly made obscene gestures.

One coach was reportedly suspended for the rest of the season; the other received a 10-day ban plus “probation.”

And they were both shamed on national television.

📋 Job Alert: Academy Analyst, New York Red Bulls

The MLS club is hiring an analyst for its Red Bulls Academy teams.

The Academy Performance Analyst plays a key role in delivering visual and data-driven insights that support player growth and team strategy. You will work closely with coaching staff to prepare tailored analysis, contribute to personalized development plans, and manage a growing library of tactical and technical footage. The role also requires flexibility to travel and a strong understanding of the club’s methodology to ensure consistent performance support across all environments. This position focuses on all aspects of performance analysis for our Academy while working closely with the clubs Head of Performance Analysis.

The full job posting can be found on LinkedIn.

If you’d like to list an open position here and reach 4,000 youth sports professionals in a single email, you can book this slot and upload all the details right here.

👥 Welcome To New Members

You can view the full list of members who wanted an introduction to the Buying Sandlot community right here.

Let me know how I can help you make a connection!

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Good game.