Elysian Park Ventures — an investment group helmed by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ ownership group — has acquired Student Sports from the combined PlayMetrics/Stack Sports company.
Terms were not disclosed. Student Sports runs Area Code Baseball, The Opening and the Elite 11 quarterback showcases; Elysian Park also has investments in LeagueApps, LOVB and a slew of other companies with ties to the youth sports industry.
It’s the second time PlayMetrics/Stack Sports has made a major divestiture since merging in June — it sold Steva, a professional sports video analysis tool, in October.
The combined company said it will “accelerate its product roadmap” to position its business as exclusively a youth sports management software platform. [‼️ Pure Play Alert™]
"This move allows us to concentrate on where we can create the most impact," PlayMetrics CEO Mike Doernberg said in a release. "Our vision is to become the essential platform that youth sports organizations rely on to run their operations every day - a true operating backbone built for long-term reliability."
Of note: While Stack Sports parent Genstar Capital made the acquisition this summer, the combined company appears to be flying the PlayMetrics banner moving forward. Stack owned Student Sports prior to the merger, but this transaction was billed as PlayMetrics selling to Elysian Park.
These Student Sports platforms may not have widespread household cachet, but a tremendous amount of future college and professional stars have rolled through over the years.
I’d be particularly bullish about Elite 11’s potential to become a crossover event. Quarterback is the most important position in American sports and Elite 11 is a vehicle for introducing the next wave and making stars. And it is relevant to any college football fan given most QBs end up at two or three schools in the transfer portal/NIL era.
MLB is already pretty involved in the Area Code Games between scouting the showcases and allowing the regional teams to use club names; it will be interesting to see if those connections grow now with the Dodgers ties.
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