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Dick's Makes Another Big Splash And We Have Thoughts

🥎 The business of youth sports

Author

Kyle Scott
May 16, 2025

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

Lots to get to today.

In the email today:

👟 Dick’s Sporting Goods To Acquire Foot Locker

Dick’s is not done throwing around cash, striking a $2.4B deal to take over Foot Locker.

The announcement comes on the heels of the GameChanger parent company leading Unrivaled Sports’ latest funding round and joining the youth sports conglomerate’s board.

The acquisition will need to be approved by Foot Locker’s shareholders and clear regulatory hurdles, but Dick’s said it expects to close the deal by the end of the year. It plans to maintain Foot Locker and its brands as a standalone business.

Dick’s shareholders hated the deal, with the stock declining nearly 15% yesterday. Foot Locker was up 80%.

While the combined company may gain some negotiating leverage with sneaker manufacturers - especially in light of unpredictable tariffs, which could disproportionately impact sneakers and apparel - Foot Locker has a lot of problems, and investors feel it could prove to be a headache for Dick’s.

But, here’s a more bullish view.

My take:

Trying to unpack some of the reasons for this, and potential youth sport tie-ins.

International Expansion

The world “global” appeared in the press release 8 times.

Dick’s operates solely in the continental 48 states. Foot Locker has stores or licensed locations across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania and in U.S. territories like Puerto Rico.

Foot Locker is more closely associated with urban and streetwear culture, while Dick’s is more synonymous with suburbanites and athletes.

But sports + culture are becoming more intertwined, with basketball and soccer (and increasingly, baseball) leading the charge, domestically and internationally.

Don’t take my word for it though— take this press release from November where the NBA announced a Euro-centric partnership with Foot Locker’s word for it:

“Through the expanded collaboration, Foot Locker will build on its commitment to elevating basketball and sneaker culture through unique products and experiences. As part of a long-standing vision to empower local communities across Europe through basketball, including in Barcelona, Berlin, London, Milan, Paris and Rotterdam, Foot Locker will continue to host youth basketball clinics in tandem with the NBA while providing essential tools, platforms and networks designed to deepen engagement with the next generation of fans and players across Europe.”

Dick’s lacks the cultural pizzazz and the international footprint that Foot Locker has. [Though Foot Locker has mentioned it plans to close some of its brands internationally— it’s unclear if this will change with the Dick’s acquisition.]

Basically all US sports leagues are exploring expansion of some sort into Europe and beyond— with The NBA leading the way. Dick’s, by buying Foot Locker, becomes a player in those markets.

Youth Focus

Let me double-click on a portion of that press release from November:

“Foot Locker will continue to host youth basketball clinics in tandem with the NBA while providing essential tools, platforms and networks designed to deepen engagement with the next generation of fans and players across Europe.”

There is plenty going on stateside to keep us busy, but we are always stumbling upon international youth sports facility and initiative news when putting together our sends. Case in point: One of our links below involves a baseball complex in India.

As sports become increase internationalized, it stands to reason that youth sports platforms and conglomerates (like Unrivaled Sports, in which Dick’s is now an investor) will follow suit.

This thing about “youth basketball clinics” could just be a throwaway line in a press release… but Foot Locker opens a gateway for Dick’s et al into youth communities it had no way of reaching before.

Perhaps those communities would benefit from using an app like GameChanger.

🏀 Top Hoops Power Moving Across The Country

Prolific Prep is giving new meaning to going coast to coast.

The high school boys basketball powerhouse is moving from California to Florida ahead of the 2025-26 season. Prolific Prep, which has produced a slew of NBA players and McDonald’s All-Americans, said its new training facility in Fort Lauderdale will be ready this fall after 11 years in the Napa Valley.

Players took classes at Napa Christian Academy previously. It is not clear where they will attend school after the move, but a release said Prolific Prep will continue to be “a 100% scholastic program.”

The move will likely mean more competitions with Sunshine State powers IMG and Montverde Academies.

My take:

No, this is not your local high school team full of homegrown kids moving over 3K miles away.

But even when you account for the fact basketball is the main thing at places like Prolific Prep and education is just a necessary obligation … it is still pretty extraordinary that it will just fold up shop and move across the country with little warning.

Even Art Modell had to stay in Cleveland for a while.

It has to be a nuisance at best for most people involved and extremely disruptive at worst.

You wonder what the NBA may think. There is all the attention and debate about cleaning up the domestic developmental system and taking pages out of the European academy playbook, which, if nothing else, focuses on consistency. And this is the type of operation the league could realistically look to invest in and partner with at some point.

It’s hard to imagine a team based in Ljubljana decides to move to Bratislava over an offseason.

But then again having several elite programs in one condensed region could be appealing to the NBA if it has grand developmental plans.

🗣️ Attention Complex and Facility Owners and Operators

If you own, operate, or help run a youth sports facility, fill out our Great Youth Sports Facility Survey, which launched this week.

It only takes 2-3 minutes, and responses will be aggregated and anonymized, and presented in a premium report to Buying Sandlot subscribers— which include other facility owners and, perhaps more importantly, investors.

All questions are optional.

⚾️ A Double Play Of News At Perfect Game

The baseball and softball power has struck a multi-year deal with SQAIRZ, making it an official footwear partner.

Perfect Game and SQAIRZ will collaborate on an exclusive co-branded colorway for the SQAIRZ GFP baseball cleat this fall as part of the pact. Perfect Game will also integrate SQAIRZ into events and programs nationwide with several different activations, including athlete-only discount and access to new products at events.

ALSO: PG and The Sports Facilities Company will host a youth clinic on Monday in Hoover, Alabama, a day before the start of the SEC Baseball Tournament.

About 500 students from Birmingham City Schools and Hoover City Schools will work with five former Major Leaguers -- Tom “Flash” Gordon, Wes Helms, Ryan Klesko, Brett Myers and Jason Phillips. VP of scouting operations Jered Goodwin will lead the clinic.

My take:

PG, which has a heavy say in the culture of baseball, seems to be leaning into these partnerships with culturally-relevant, upstart brands.

SQAIRZ has some steak with its sizzle, too — the company claims independent testing shows athletes experience a 2.6 MPH increase in throwing velocity and 2.0 MPH boost in exit velocity when wearing its cleats. The cleats are also engineered for injury prevention.

That claim, for certain, is the baseball equivalent of “Jordans make you jump higher” in basketball. Someone get Aaron Nola a pair, please.

⛳️ Bank of America Expands $5 Golf Program

BOA's Golf with Us initiative announced it will be open to an additional 25K participants after reaching the initial goal of 50K when it launched during Masters Week in April. Sign-ups are open through May 24.

The program -- in partnership with Youth on Course -- subsidizes $5 rounds for kids at participating courses nationwide, plus other perks. Families in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the District of Columbia have participated so far, playing over 6K rounds. BOA has also pledged to evaluate the program for long-term impacts.

🏢 Youth Sports Facilities News

Richmond, Virginia: SixFour3 — a fastpitch softball training facility chain — has opened a location in the city. The location will also have a female-only fitness membership program on site.

SixFour3 now has three locations in Virginia and one in North Carolina with plans to add another Virginia location plus sites in Atlanta, Nashville and somewhere in Maryland.

New York City: The Program, a 12.5K square-foot basketball facility backed by Roc Nation, Carmelo Anthony, Sue Bird and others, will open this fall in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood.

🏛️ Monumental Sports & Entertainment Launches Girls Empowerment Program

MSE — the parent company of the Washington Capitals, Mystics and Wizards — will anchor its District of Play youth sports program with a Girls Empowerment Program in conjunction with Coach Across America.

  • MSE will be the first national partner for CAA’s She Changes The Game initiative and Washington will be the first hub city (see job listing below)

  • MSE will invest at least $500K over four years to hire 40 female youth sports coaches, develop internship and training programs for aspiring female coaches and impact over 1K youth athletes

  • MSE will sponsor numerous events, from clinics and a sports bra giveaway to team night to a speaking series and coach and referee development and education training

  • MSE is also investing in girls flag football in the region

đź“‹ Job Alert: She Changes the Game Program Director, Washington DC

Coach Across America is hiring a program director to manage its She Changes the Game initiative in Washington. The position pays $58-60K annually. SCTG "is focused on increasing opportunities for women to coach, building the capacity of girls’ sports programs, and leveling the playing field for girls."

The SCTG Program Director will serve as the main point of contact for Coach Across America Coaches and their programs in the DC area. This individual will ensure that Coach Across America Coaches and program sites are properly supported and maintain quality services, and deliverables. This position is based out of DC and works closely with the Managing Director in Baltimore to manage the SCTG program while meeting programmatic and funding compliance requirements. This position will require an individual with a start up mentality and can work on their own initiative.

The full job posting can be found here.

If you’d like to list an open position here and reach more than 3,700 youth sports professionals in a single email, you can book this slot and upload all the details right here.

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Good game.