🥎 Congressman Tips Hand On Youth Sports Policy

It seems pretty clear Congressional Democrats — or at least some wings of the party — have a youth sports policy playbook ready to roll.

(Democrats are currently a slight favorite to take control of the House in the midterms; they may gain seats in the Senate but also winning that chamber looks like a long shot)

Antitrust issues are not new to youth sports. Varsity Spirit was involved in settlements totaling over $120M a few years ago to resolve two class-action lawsuits regarding alleging anti-competitive practices.

But those were suits filed by private citizens and companies. Federal legislation — or actions by the Justice Department or state attorneys general — would be an entirely different ballgame.

Then comes the all-important question of whether there is any there, there. And the line between what could be considered a monopoly and what is just a really good business is often hazy.

But the Trump Administration has been aggressive with some antitrust matters. And Deluzio said he believes youth sports can be a bipartisan cause. That would especially seem likely when it comes to increased funding.

“I’ve got some folks in Texas who care about Friday night lights the same way we do,” he said at the event.

That said: Note this general sentiment from former NCAA chief medical officer Dr. Brian Hainline.

During our recent interview after he expanded his role at Koomba — full Q+A here — he discussed how the U.S. does not have a minister of sport providing national oversight at a governmental level.

"But sometimes I have reluctance about federal systems as well," he said. "You have to really get it right. Where would it fit under? Health and Human Services? I don't think that would be, in my opinion, a good idea."

The main point: Even the most well-intentioned efforts to cause change through legislation would be incredibly complicated and perhaps risky.

Lots of requests for the list of attendees. The best way for conference speakers, sponsors, and attendees to access is to download our event app, which includes the event agenda, a list of speakers and sponsors, and the full event directory— with the ability to connect and message other attendees.

To get it: Simply download the Go Attend (from Swoogo) app in the App Store, and log in with the email you used to register for the conference.

Please note: This is only available to registered event attendees and sponsors.

Although more players will help replenish local coffers, government funding is still needed. States such as New York and North Carolina direct a portion of tax revenue from mobile-sports betting toward youth athletic programs. Other states including Colorado use lottery proceeds to improve local parks. Congress, for its part, should consider legislation that seeks to expand eligibility for existing federal grants to include youth sports facilities. And after years of underinvestment, school districts should boost funding for sports training in gym class and other clubs. (One place to potentially scale back: the billions of dollars schools spend annually on ineffective tech that keeps kids screen-bound and sedentary.)

This is a trend within a trend within a trend, wrapped in an opportunity.

For my money, the way the youth of America and the youth sports industry win is through grants, tax credits and rebates that effectively subsidize participation, especially by diverting money from vices (like sports betting) or attention from now-shown-to-be-underperforming initiatives around ed tech.

Sports participation has lots of positive benefits— from health to insurance costs to, slightly more nefariously from the government’s viewpoint, developing better soldiers (which, who knows, it seems like we may need now more than we thought).

If the industry gets on the same page with messaging (or lobbying, if you prefer) and proposes something more closely resembling “School Choice”, some public funding could be directed to private, for-profit initiatives as much as non-profit and traditional scholastic efforts. I’m already bullish on the following, and something like this would only provide an additional tailwind for:

1) Professionalized rec experiences, where sports participation among younger age groups takes place through franchises like i9 Sports and Youth Athletes United, and elite experiential participation takes place through platforms like Unrivaled Sports or even the Savannah Bananas’ yet-to-be-fully-disclosed initiative.

2) Clubs that offer multiple sports and less intense schedules to develop more well-rounded athletes.

3) Whether you agree with it or not, AI-powered education combined with athletic training is a clear trend that won’t slow down anytime soon. “School districts should boost funding for sports training in gym class and other clubs” inadvertently describes what happens at these private academies.

And, you’re not going to believe this, we’re going to discuss all of this at the Summit.