This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
Today, we’re excited to announce our Official Sponsors™® of the Buying Sandlot Summit, along with a slew of new speakers, including some certifiable BIG DAWGS.
And also excited to announce our exclusive partner for the Extra Innings Evening Networking Event is GameChanger:
From 5-9 PM on Tuesday, April 14 (the first day of the Summit), we will gather at Ballers for dinner, open bar, networking, and fun and games, including a pickleball tournament, padel, golf sims, and more.
Let’s get to it.
In the email today:
🎥 GameChanger, GoPro Partner On Streaming Bundle
GameChanger president Sameer Ahuja said the platform is, and will remain, camera-agnostic during his recent appearance on the Buying Sandlot podcast.
Case in point: The new partnership with GoPro.
The companies will collaborate on a tech bundle designed for youth sports streaming; it will retail for just under $450 and be available exclusively at Dick’s Sporting Goods, GameChanger’s parent company.
GoPro HERO13 Black camera
GameChanger streaming kit
USB pass-through door
64GB SD card
Protective case
GoPro cameras can integrate with the GameChanger platform via the GoPro Quik app.
GameChanger recently struck a partnership with Pixellot to install fixed cameras at facilities nationwide. So the door is now open for GameChanger to partner with more than one camera provider — fixed or not — across the industry.
🏟️ Buying Sandlot Summit Sponsor and Speaker Unveil
We want to thank our amazing partners and sponsors. Whether it’s fun at the Extra Innings Presented by GameChanger event, meeting someone in the LeagueApps Lounge, getting interviewed on the TeamSnap Live Stream Stage, hanging in the Stout VIP Room, or so many other organic touchpoints, attendees will be able to engage with some of the leading companies in and serving the youth sports industry, all at the Buying Sandlot Summit.
If you want to join them: We have some limited sponsorship opportunities remaining— including naming rights on one of the two speaking halls, and booth space. If you’re interested, just reply to this email, and I (Kyle) or our partnerships manager Paul will get right back to you.
Oh, and speakers? We have more of those too:
Doron Gerstel (CEO, Pixellot): A leader in camera and streaming technology, and a partner to several other leading youth sports technology platforms.
Sandy Ogg (CEO, Curve Sports): Sandy runs the Weatherford Capital-backed youth baseball super club network and was previously an operating partner in private equity at the Blackstone Group. He’s also an author, entrepreneur, speaker, and consultant.
Chris Ciaccio (Chief Commercial Officer, IMG Academy): The leader in sports education. Chris has been with IMG for 26 years and oversees sales, marketing, brand, and commercial opportunities.
Nick Carroll (Co-Founder, Prep Network): One of the nation’s largest digital scouting and event platforms in high school sports, Prep Network recently raised capital to expand from Maple Park Capital Partners.
Kate Quattlebaum (VP, Enterprise and Safety, SportsEngine): Kate represents both the Enterprise division of SportsEngine, as well as their full NCSI business— a leader in athlete safety and background screening efforts.
John Erlandson (Co-Founder and President, Youth Athletes United): Owner of leading youth sports franchises Amazing Athletes, Soccer Stars, and TGA.
Vince Russomagno, Sr. (Owner, All-Star Sports Academy): A previous podcast guest, Vince aims to expand his Philly-centric baseball and softball facility business up and down the East Coast.
Ellis Mair (Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer, Go4): A technology platform that connects athletic trainers with event organizers to streamline medical coverage at youth sporting events.
Dan Scheinman (President, Priority Partnerships): A leader in sponsorships sales connecting brands and youth sports.
You can see the full list of speakers here.
Want to join them all?
🎟️ PlayOn Sports Fined $1.1M In California
The youth sports giant was dinged by the state’s California Privacy Protection Agency Board due to privacy violations involving a single campaign on its GoFan digital ticketing platform.
The $1.1M fine was part of a settlement after PlayOn was accused of making digital tracking technologies a requirement to use GoFan without adhering to state law on options to opt out and prevent personal data from being sold to third parties.
PlayOn will be required to conduct risk assessments — and have its board review them — as a condition of a settlement. It will also be required to provide “easy to read and understand” disclosures and “implement proper opt-out methods.”
We’ve written quite a lot about privacy rights— mostly as they relate to streaming. This fine feels oh-so-California in nature, but serves as a good reminder that there will be pushback when privacy rights come between registration and participation.
I would expect opt-in vs. opt-out to become a topic of conversation in the industry as parents more carefully consider the heavier tech involvement in youth sports overall.
🧢 IMG Academy: College Roster Spots Are Top Priority
Over 80% of youth sports families nationwide believe expanding college roster opportunities for high school athletes should be the top priority, according to a new IMG survey.
The elite developmental platform polled over 1.6K families nationwide as part of its #AddMoreAthletes initiative.
83% prioritized roster spots
14% prioritized athlete compensation
3% prioritized whether athletes should be considered employees
Roster expansion is slightly more important to families pursuing opportunities beyond major conference basketball and football — 85% prioritize it compared to 78% of basketball/football families. The latter group is also slightly more concerned with compensation — 17% to 12%.
The survey did stark differences regarding reclassification as a tool to improve the chances of a college roster spot.
23% of all families considering reclassification
36% of families pursuing major conference football/hoops are considering
15% of families pursuing other sports considering
IMG estimates there are 75M families and students involved in youth sports. It previously projected 8M high school athletes were vying for 500K college roster spots.
The #AddMoreAthletes initiative is not only pushing to repeal roster limits established by the House settlement.
The initiative also calls for schools to add JV and varsity-light programs outside the NCAA framework, or to have teams at several NCAA levels — i.e. Ohio State fielding D1, D2 and D3 football squads.
IMG found 57% of families would pay tuition for JV or varsity-light competition models and 52% would pay full tuition to play a college sport.
This survey lays the foundation for a strong first wave strategy — getting the NCAA to pass legislation allowing schools to have a few extra roster spots solely for incoming high school athletes. That feels like a good first step toward some of the ideas IMG has.
🍸 TendedBar Looks To Grow Youth Sports Business
TendedBar is a hospitality tech company that builds automated self-serve bar systems capable of mixing and serving cocktails, beer, wine and other drinks without human bartenders — the “Coke Freestyle for liquor,” as co-founder and CEO Justin Honeysuckle puts it.
The company is best known for having its stations in high-traffic locations like arenas, concert venues, stadiums and other large events. But TendedBar is now looking to grow in the youth sports space with a countertop unit that sits behind a concession stand and would be operated by a worker.
“The [youth sports parent] that’s sitting there trying to raise money for their daughter’s camp, they can turn around and make a Jack and coke or a dirty soda or an iced coffee just by pressing the buttons rather than knowing how to bartend, knowing the recipes for all of these things,” Honeysuckle told Buying Sandlot.
Foot traffic does need to be considered given the countertop units will start in the upper $20K range, plus fees, maintenance, etc. But the revenue potential is there — Honeysuckle said a $12 ticket for a pretzel and hot dog can easily become a $40 ticket if a TendedBar unit can quickly make a drink at the same time. There are no overpour or waste issues that reduce margins; customers also cannot overtip bartenders for stronger drinks.
Honeysuckle said he wouldn’t advise most youth sports venues go directly to self-serve option, but TendedBar does have some mobile self-serve systems that can be brought in for major tournaments.
The self-serve stations can be regulated to control how often each individual can get a drink as users must do an initial ID check and consumption is tracked.
For those who say youth sports parents should not be sold alcohol: “I’d say go check the Yeti cups in the parking lot,” Honeysuckle said. “Let’s be real. People need to be honest with themselves as to what people are doing. I get it — you don’t want to encourage too much, but it’s also about how you’re doing it responsibly.”
🧱 Facilities Arms Race Update: Rochester, Minnesota
A state lawmaker has proposed a bill designed to throw the brakes — again — on a controversial youth sports complex in Minnesota’s third-largest city.
The quick points to get caught up:
Proposed indoor-outdoor complex with $65M cost, funded by local sales tax extension
Projected cost then ballooned to $120M
City Council decides to move forward with outdoor component only at $65M
Mayor vetoes that decision
Council then overrides mayor’s veto
And now: A Democratic state senator from Rochester wants to change how sales tax revenues are distributed in an effort to hamstring public financing for the venue.
The situation is a good microcosm for the tension between local youth sports needs and strategic planning for sports tourism, regardless of whether the complex happens.
The facility was supposed to have 8-12 soccer fields. So the local soccer community got out the vote in 2023 to get the sales tax extension passed, arguing it would address field shortages.
But officials then pivoted after the vote and decided to focus on baseball and softball.
Their logic: The National Sports Center in Blaine — about 90 minutes away — was going to land the lion’s share of any soccer tournaments due to its 40 fields.
That makes business sense if the goal is to generate local economic impact. But it burned the actual constituents.
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Good game.