This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
Let’s get to it.
In the email today:
🎥 An Intriguing Nugget About A Big Name
The Information — a tech business publication — became the latest major outlet to cover the youth sports industry last week with an in-depth look at the proliferation of apps.
The newsiest note: Reporter Sara Germano has “heard chatter” about Hudl going public. And COO Matt Mueller did not exactly deny it.
“There’s a chance that we go public, but I would never say guarantee. We want to have the optionality, if it makes sense for us and our investors.” -- Mueller to The Information
Fun fact: Matt is scheduled to be on our podcast this Thursday.
Hudl took on investment from Bain in 2020— the report said the streamer has received over $225M in funding.
Hudl also appeared in a recent Motley Fool article about financial services company Nelnet, which owns a 22% stake in the streamer:
“Both of these wholly owned businesses should provide steady cash flow for the Nelnet parent company. But that is not all the company owns. It has a small stake in a private start-up called Hudl, which dominates the sports film and coaching software sector. Nelnet's roughly 22% ownership stake in Hudl could be worth hundreds of millions, if not more, which could be monetized if Hudl ever goes public. With Nelnet having a market cap of just $4.7 billion, the Hudl investment could drive significant value for shareholders.”
Hudl would be the first stand-alone youth sports tech company to have an IPO (GameChanger is a subsidiary of Dick’s Sporting Goods, which is publicly traded).
Two other nuggets that stood out:
The youth sports app market is estimated to be worth $12B a year, according to Boston Consulting Groups
Fastbreak.ai CEO John Stewart said his company has stopped trying to keep track of competitor apps due to the explosion of options in the space
As everyone who reads Buying Sandlot knows: The youth sports streaming space is extremely fragmented.
So much so that the state of play stands out in an overarching industry that itself is quite fragmented.
Hudl going public would be a fascinating wrinkle. The platform’s market share is, like almost all of its competitors, small in the grand scheme.
A report this summer said GameChanger had a 9% market share and everyone else, Hudl included, was no greater than 3%.
But Hudl says 99% of high schools use its services. So if you subscribe to the theory that adoption, not acquisition, is the path to consolidation in streaming … Hudl seems to have the inside track to best compete with GameChanger. And going public could help that push.
🗣️ New Tech: A Different Spin On AI-Powered Stats
Youth sports statkeeping tends to boil down into two camps these days: 1) The old-school, by-hand approach or 2) platforms that harness AI to produce reports off of uploaded game footage.
Soccer-focused Impressive Play falls in the middle.
Coaches keep stats via voice command
Speak into cell phone app through microphone (i.e. AirPods)
AI differentiates between stat-related comments and other sideline chatter
Commands are captured and compiled into stats after game ends
Stats are available within minutes and can be edited in the app if needed
“You can capture so much more data with your voice,” founder Sam Sackett said. “It overcomes some of the limitations with video.”
Sackett came to the concept based on his years of experience as a coach and club soccer parent. He found a lack of hard data can often be detrimental to coaches when it comes to managing intra-team dynamics and playing time issues with parents.
An example from Impressive Play’s website: A player may clearly be the team’s best dribbler, but they also turn the ball over 5X more than anyone else on the roster.
“It allows the coach to control the data,” said Sackett, who has a business strategy background at stops like Cardinal Health, Johnson & Johnson and JP Morgan Chase.
The platform is currently soccer-only, but Sackett hopes to expand into other sports.
An individual subscription is $17.99 a month; club team accounts start at $27.99 a month and include season-long tracking and club-wide awards. All users can get a seven-day free trial to start.
“A lot of these apps, people get really frustrated because they start missing the game,” Sackett said. “You don’t have to take your eyes off the field.”
🤼 NFHS Partners With Next-Gen Wrestling Headgear Maker
BATS-TOI
The national high school sports organization announced a three-year deal with BATS-TOI, a Brooklyn-based company that produces high-tech headgear using AI and computational design.
The partnership is wrestling-focused, but BATS-TOI’s products can be used in several sports, including flag football.
Quick Take: It’s not just safer headgear; it is also extremely marketable headgear. Think team logos and NIL ad deals on the side.
👨🔬 SPIRE Academy Opens Innovation Lab
The Ohio elite sports school’s SPIRE Performance Research Institute will “apply a comprehensive approach to youth sports,” that is heavy on cutting-edge technology, according to SBJ:
Mental and physical training
Injury prevention and recovery
Partnerships with equipment and tech vendors
SPIRE CEO Steve Sanders argued the lab’s work could have a trickle-down effect that benefits the entire youth sports ecosystem, not just SPIRE’s athletes.
He also interestingly said he believes the lab will help start the careers of “sports professionals,” not just benefit future college and professional athletes.
Quick Take: It will be interesting to see if sports-focused schools like SPIRE and IMG Academy begin to try to appeal to families with kids who want to work in sports, but are not necessarily going to get paid to play them. Right now the motivation to attend one of these institutions is getting a college scholarship or preparing to play professionally. But offerings like this innovation lab could open the door to an entirely different clientele.
⛳️ Scottie Scheffler Launches Free Youth Golf Tour
The world’s No. 1-ranked golfer will help fund the Randy Smith Tour, named in honor of his personal coach.
Families do not pay to play
High school golfers lead groups
Parents cannot caddy
Ice cream after every round
The tour is for kids ages 6-12 in Texas; there will be 10-12 events next year with plans to expand to 20-25 events annually starting in 2027.
🧱 Youth Sports Facilities Arms Race Update: Sterling Ranch, Colorado
City of Sterling Ranch
We wrote about the Zebulon Regional Sports Complex — a proposed 500-acre project in a Denver suburb — back in July.
A bit of progress has been made: Douglas County has approved a land transfer with the city of Sterling Ranch to acquire 46.5 acres for Zebulon.
But there is still no price tag on the massive multi-sport project, which officials claim would generate $1B in economic impact. Nor details on who would pay for it. Or an update about the defunct dynamite plant on the construction site.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
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Good game.