This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
We had planned to run our 5 BIG TAKEAWAYS from our interview with GameChanger President Sameer Ahuja today, but there’s too much going on in the industry. So we’ll run it as a standalone send tomorrow.
Let’s get to it.
In the email today:
🏋️♀️ Report: D1 Training Is For Sale
Sportico reported the athletic performance franchise is seeking a buyer— D1 is not commenting on the report.
D1 was founded by former NFL player Will Bartholomew in 2001. The Nashville-based company boasts several big name ambassadors including Chris Paul, Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning, who played with Bartholomew at Tennessee.
About 170 locations nationwide
Goal is to hit 200 by end of 2026
Over 100K youth athletes served nationwide
Plans to expand youth sports camps
52 corporate employees (headcount almost 2x since the pandemic)
PE firm Princeton Equity Partners owns an undisclosed stake in D1, according to Sportico. The firm also owns the Barry’s fitness studio and Stretch Zone chains.
D1 has been a Buying Sandlot sponsor in the past, and Will appeared on our podcast last year to talk about his business:
The money is beginning to get deployed.
LiveBarn is reportedly getting acquired for $400M. SportsEngine is for sale— estimated to be worth about $400M-$500M. 3Step is for sale. D1 is exploring a sale. $40M raised by Fastbreak. $16.5M by Otto.
Private equity has stockpiles of cash to invest in the industry, but there aren’t many companies in this fragmented space with enough scale (yet) to be targets. The ones that are big enough to command mid 9-figure prices are putting themselves on the market because they can maximize their valuation given the relative lack of supply.
What’s interesting, though, is that LiveBarn, SportsEngine, and D1 very much represent the 1.0 era companies in youth sports with relatively straightforward business models, without the ambition for the platform-level scale of, say, a Hudl, GameChanger, Varsity Brands, or even Unrivaled Sports. Never mind the well-capitalized newer entrants who are leaning into AI to improve the end-consumer (parent) experience, which might represent the next leg-up in scale. It’s certainly possible that the PE firms buying up these 1.0 companies may end up buying assets that get disrupted by larger platform players - that aggregate scheduling, streaming, payments, sponsorship, even tech-enabled training tools into one experience (like TeamSnap is doing with TeamSnap ONE) - during the hold period. Then again, strategic buyers could use these assets to become those platform players— D1, for example, brings a physical footprint many don’t have.
As GameChanger President Sameer Ahuja told me on our podcast this week, he wouldn’t be surprised if there winds up being 5-10 $1 billion+ REVENUE companies in youth sports.
In other words, this round of acquisitions still represents the early innings— with companies that may have reached their natural limit looking to cash out. The middle innings will be filled with multi-billion $ deals of scaled platforms. And the later innings will be the mature stage with deals largely taking place in the public markets.
📆 EventConnect Is A Partner Helping To Shape The Future Of Youth Sports*
I (Kyle) asked Eric Vardon, President of Buying Sandlot sponsor EventConnect, which has renewed with us to support the brand over a longer period of time, for some talking points so we could write effective ad copy for him.
We expected some bullets on how EventConnect bills itself as the “operating system for youth and amateur sports.” How their software helps event organizers grow room nights, end spreadsheet chaos, and keep every datapoint in one place. Or how they help increase room night reservations by up to 30%, while saving 24% of hotel costs for teams.
That sort of thing.
Rather, we received 4 bullets on why they saw Buying Sandlot as a valuable investment for themselves and the industry as a whole:
Investing in the Industry, Not Just Advertising: Supporting Buying Sandlot reflects our belief that strong industries are built through shared insight, transparency, and informed leadership. We believe the best companies don’t just build products — they invest in the conversations that move the industry forward.
Aligned with the Voices Shaping What’s Next: If you care about where this industry is going, you should care about who’s covering it.
It’s All About Community and Experience: EventConnect exists to improve the experience for athletes, families, organizers, and partners. Supporting Buying Sandlot is an extension of that mission — helping the industry learn from itself and make smarter, more connected decisions.
Showing Up Where the Industry Gathers: Whether it’s the newsletter or the podcast — including conversations with the leaders in the industry — EventConnect wants to be present where real dialogue is happening, not just where others place their ads or post their talking points on social media.
Where the industry gathers. Has a good ring to it. Might have to use that.
Support sponsors like EventConnect who allow us to gather in your inbox.
*Sponsor
📺 A Wild GameChanger Stat
A sneak preview for tomorrow:
“Every month or two on GameChanger, more games are covered than have been played in the entire history of American professional sports,” GameChanger’s Sameer Ahuja said during his recent Buying Sandlot podcast interview. “The scale is incredible.”
Even more incredible: Where that scale sits in the grand scheme of the fragmented youth sports streaming space.
Ahuja said GameChanger covers over 9M games a year and has seen about 1,500% video use growth since its launch in 2010.
But still, its overall market share is estimated to be about 9%. That makes it the biggest streamer in the space, but still — nine of every 10 streamed youth sports games is on another platform. And more often than not the biggest “competition” is someone using Facebook or YouTube with their phone, Ahuja said.
“There isn’t an obvious way to make sure a high school basketball team in Wichita is going to hear about your product on the same day a club basketball team in New York City is going to hear about it,” he said.
Quick Take: Youth sports live content is arguably the most under-penetrated segment of the entire sports streaming boom. Any company, investor, or brand that still views this as a “hobby market” is misreading the data by an order of magnitude.
📋 Introducing National Women’s Coaches Day
Hudl and WeCOACH announced a partnership to launch the new annual observance day on March 7 or 3/7 — a tribute to the 37 words that comprise Title IX.
National Women Coaches Day honors the powerful influence of women coaches who lead, mentor, and inspire the next generation of athletes and is a commitment to building a future where women coaches belong and thrive in every coaching arena. The day is also intended to raise awareness of the need for more women in coaching roles.
The lack of women coaches is frequently cited as a major contributing factor to the participation disparity between boys and girls in youth sports, as we wrote about last week on National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
WeCOACH will hold a regional workshop in Tampa on NWCD this year.
💰 Apollo Global Is Ready To Drop Bags
The asset management firm said it will deploy about $6B for its new sports unit, Apollo Sports Capital.
ASC will invest permanent capital and focus on “credit and hybrid opportunities in franchises, leagues, venue, media and events,” according to Sportico.
ASC took majority ownership in a top-flight Spanish soccer club last year.
⚾️ Baseball Partnership In Delaware
Courtesy of BPG Sports
BPG Sports — a sports management firm — will take over operations of Sports at the Beach, a youth baseball complex in Georgetown.
16 natural grass fields
Can host 100 teams, 10K visitors
Basketball courts, playgrounds
Concessions, pavilion, pro shop
HiCast live streaming on all fields
BPG Sports has six properties in its portfolio now, all in Delaware. The firm is affiliated to the Buccini Pollin Group, a real estate company, and also operates several club sports platforms in the Mid-Atlantic region.
📉 A Look At Girls Basketball’s Participation Decline
Some interesting stats from NFHS:
Girls hoops participation dropped at least 21% nationally from 2000-2025
There were about 100K fewer players in 2025 than in 2000
But about 2K more schools offered the sport in 2025 than 2000
Girls hoops was the No. 1 girls participation sport from 1979-2008; it is now No. 4 behind track and field, volleyball and soccer in that order.
The NFHS report accompanying the stats mentioned many of the usual causes for the drop — sport specialization, elevated drop-out rates, the rise of other sports, etc.
It also acknowledges the thought many have: How is this happening alongside Caitlin Clark’s emergence?
It is a question that becomes even more puzzling when you see midwest states like Iowa and Wisconsin — which should be the Clark Effect’s wheelhouse — are experiencing some of the more pronounced declines.
The authors of the NFHS report have an optimistic take. They suggest we may not see participation growth immediately because Clark’s biggest impact could be felt among girls currently in elementary school.
⚽️ FIFA Tabs PlayerData As Preferred Platform
The performance technology firm has been selected as a preferred player tracking provider by the international governing body of soccer.
"Over the next two years, we’ll be working closely with FIFA’s Research & Standards team to contribute research, innovation, and reliable data that helps advance the global football community," CEO Roy Hotrabhvanon wrote on LinkedIn.
PlayerData recently launched a pair of GPS-enabled balls with Mitre and Puma; the tech is inside the balls and is ready to be used out of the box with no external LPS or optical tracking needed.
🗞️ Hudl Teams Up With National Newspaper Chain
Another partnership announcement for the youth sports tech platform: Lee Enterprises will begin carrying Hudl high school sports video content on its websites.
Lee owns 72 papers in 25 states with a lot of small-market properties where high school sports is a top priority.
The partnership is focused on post-game content — think game highlights, top plays, etc. Hudl’s live streams are not part of the agreement.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
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Good game.