America's Most Ambitious Youth Sports Facility Project

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

We have a meatball today. A deep dive into the most interesting youth sports project in the US, an investor opportunity, and so much more. And a special thanks our sponsor, Ankored.

David McMenomey chuckled at the question.

If the True Gritt Sports Complex was on a football field, where would it currently stand?

“I would say maybe the 10-yard-line, in our own territory,” he said. “And that may be very generous. But I’m on the field.”

And attempting to do something completely unprecedented.

McMenomey is the driving force behind a proposed $120M youth sports complex in Kuna, Idaho — a public-private partnership between the city and the True Gritt Youth Sports non-profit organization.

It may be the most compelling active project in the country at the moment. It is certainly the most ambitious.

McMenomey — an advertising agency owner who specialized in internet marketing — attended a Christian business conference in 2023.

He said he was asked to pray on where he would be in 20 years.

Youth sports came to him.

“This was a vision I had,” he said. “It was definitely a very, very spiritual experience. I felt led to start walking forward with this, and doors kept opening up.”

McMenomey approached several cities in the Boise area before linking with Kuna (pronounced cue-nuh). The complex is now his full-time job.

The complex will span 114 acres. True Gritt is under contract to buy 57 acres from a private seller, and the city of Kuna has offered a 100-year lease on 20 acres for $1.

Talks are planned on an additional 37 acres controlled by the local school district.

Local and state officials are extremely supportive of the project, but no one is offering public funds.

The annual budget for Ada County — which includes Boise and Kuna — is only $300M.

The money just is not there.

That leaves McMenomey attempting to fund the vast majority of the project with corporate sponsorship, naming rights deals, and private donors — which would be unprecedented for the industry.

Seven- or eight-figure corporate deals are extremely rare for youth sports complexes. Most top out in the low six figures.

Boise State football — a national brand — signed a stadium naming rights deal with Albertsons for $12.5M over 15 years in 2014. Even when corrected for inflation that figure comes in under $20M.

Note: Kuna officials do want to explore some sort of hotel tax that would go toward operational costs for the complex. But the city will not have hotels until McMenomey gets them built — the ultimate chicken and the egg situation.

What’s coming up:

McMenomey is optimistic about the progress, but there has not yet been a breakthrough.

The projected magic number to get shovels in the ground: $45M.

“We’ve received some generous checks from local private donors, but not the $20 million, $25 million naming rights-type contract yet,” he said. “We’re kind of in limbo right there. As soon as we do get one of those, then OK, we can break ground.”

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LocalLive, a Connecticut-based remote production streaming service with a big high school presence in the New York metropolitan area, has been acquired by NBC SportsEngine Play.

LocalLive SVP of Digital Media Kevin Devaney Jr. recently announced the move on his X account, adding he is now a national sales manager for SportsEngine.

LocalLive and “much of our staff” will migrate into SportsEngine this summer, Devaney wrote.

SportsEngine recently extended partnerships with NXTPRO and Pixellot. And the youth sports streaming sector is having a moment, as evidenced by LiveBarn being on the market.

A proposed $40M youth sports complex in Kalamazoo, Michigan, will remain inside city limits.

This one is unique thanks to a 4% assessment on local hotel operators — not a hotel tax! — that will fund construction.

A location on the city’s western edge appears to have beaten out a pair of out-of-town candidates.

County officials are expected to rubber stamp a location selection committee’s recommendation with optimism the venue will be operational by 2027.

Brockton, Massachusetts: Boston Legacy FC — a NWSL expansion franchise — wants to build a practice facility in Rocky Marciano’s hometown. The complex would have six fields, including one with a bubble dome, and city officials said it could be used to host youth soccer tournaments.

The online college recruiting platform recently underwent an overhaul, including a new app with improved user experience.

The platform will include improved direct messaging with college coaches, educational resources for athletes and their families and stronger brand integration with Stack Sports, which acquired CaptainU in 2017.

As we told you last week, IMG is quickly becoming the Disney of sports training, and they need someone to document all of it for the masses.

“IMG Academy is seeking a dynamic, strategic, creative, and metrics-driven Director of Social and Visual Content to lead and evolve the brand’s social presence across all platforms. This role will be responsible for developing and executing a unified social media and visual content strategy across IMG Academy, IMG Academy+, and NCSA College Recruiting, ensuring each business line engages its audience, drives conversions, and reflects the high-performance standards of the brand. This leader will manage a team of social strategists, content creators, videographers and producers to craft powerful storytelling, build brand equity, and grow a loyal digital community of student-athletes, families, coaches, and partners.”

7+ years experience, benefits, and the ability to speak Gen Z.

The full job posting can be found here.

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Good game.