This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
We have surpassed 10,000 subscribers to this newsletter, which didn’t exist on March 1. Our goal was to reach 7,500 by the end of September, and obviously we have well exceeded that.
More important than the number of subscribers is the quality of those subscribers. Besides countless facility, league and event operators, tech founders, and investors, this audience also includes CEOs, other c-suite members and leaders from the largest companies in this booming industry. I (Kyle) always tell people, there is no better way to reach the most influential people in youth sports than with a single Buying Sandlot email.
Thanks to everyone who has subscribed, supported and shared. We are just getting started.
In the email today:
🏨 Simplifying Lodging For Youth Sports Families
Sina Hospitality operates 34 hotels across six states, all of which see youth sports tourism traffic.
A big part of that business: Working with housing bureaus and travel agencies that serve as brokers between families and operators.
That got Sina CEO Ravi Patel and his team thinking.
“A lot of times you work with a housing bureau, and the housing bureau will charge you whatever fees they have,” Patel told Buying Sandlot. “They get commissions and all that too. So we sat back and we said, ‘As much money as we are paying to the housing bureau, what if we did it ourselves?’”
Enter 804 Travel, which recently launched and will help coordinate accommodations for out-of-town youth sports families and teams visiting the Richmond, Virginia, area for competitions.
804 Travel locates available rooms, negotiates rates with local hotels
Tailored packages, i.e. early team breakfast before food service hours
24/7 assistance
Works with all hotels, not just Sina-owned ones
“With youth sports, you’re on the road every weekend,” Patel said. “Being able to offer a package where the families don’t have to think about it and they just show up, that’s what people are looking for and that’s what we want to try to give them. Come enjoy the event and have your child play. We’ve got everything else.”
Patel said Sina Hospitality conducted a legal review and determined there is no barrier to a hotel company operating a travel agency. But while 804 Travel is co-owned by Sina and based out of its nearby headquarters, it is a separate company with its own tax ID.
Patel’s goal is to reduce his costs through 804 Travel and then pass that savings along, making youth sports tourism more affordable across the entire ecosystem. Nightly rate costs and inventory limitations are two major pain points for families, he said. He wants 804 Travel to make a tangible impact for cost-conscious clients.
“That front end work is very important,” he said. “We want to take the time to do it so they come back and it’s not a one-time thing. The more that you care and show that, the better it is because they’ll remember those guys really helped us and made it super easy.”
Patel said 804 Travel is focused on perfecting its process in the Richmond area, but it could grow to offer services in other parts of the country. The organization is in partnership talks with all of the youth sports venues in the area.
“They all want to figure out how to work with us,” he said. “I think it’s going to be very interesting in the next coming months how that all shakes out.
In our Sports Parent Economy deep dive last week, I wrote about the opportunities in travel. There are many of them. [My idea was a sports parent-focused loyalty or credit card. So many premium cards cater to business travelers, but many of the perks and benefits associated with those cards are irrelevant to a traveling family.]
804, of course, already has skin in this game and seeks to remove costs its sister company, Sina, has to take on. But, Trend Watch™, the important part here is the focus on parents and families. Products and services in youth sports are increasingly being positioned in this way and marketed to this audience.
🏟️ The Shopify of Youth Sports Tournaments*
There are only a handful of companies that deserve the moniker: The Shopify of [X].
That’s because it’s rare when one platform can cover all of a business’ needs in a single interface.
EventConnect is the Shopify of sports tournaments.
It’s the leading no-cost platform built specifically for organizers who juggle schedules and hotel blocks in the same breath.
registration
rostering
payments
real-time performance reports
lodging and more
Their proprietary HousingConnect tech bolts room blocking and booking straight onto checkout, delivering the best online group rates while parents still have their credit cards out.
This means up to:
30% more room night reservations
24% savings on team hotel costs
EventConnect already powers 9,000 events, taps 30,000 hotels across 800 destinations, and backs it all with class-leading customer support.
Want to join them?
*Sponsor
📍 PlayerData Takes Big Step With Tiny Trackers
The sports tech firm is releasing the smallest indoor/outdoor wearable tracking unit on the market after its latest seed round.
Bolt Ventures — the home office of Unrivaled Sports co-founder David Blitzer — was among the investors.
The Edge Air Tracker is half the size of competitors and combines GPS and LPS tracking, the latter via portable beacons for indoor use. The load monitoring device received FIFA Quality certification.
PlayerData’s main market is the UK — it is present on 94% of soccer pitches there, according to SBJ — but it began its U.S. launch two years ago.
IMG Academy significantly expanded its partnership with PlayerData in July.
🩹 New Program For Youth Sports Athletics Trainers
Ohio University and OhioHealth have partnered to launch the nation’s first accredited athletic training residency specializing in pediatrics.
Designed for early-career licensed athletic trainers
12-month program of clinical practice and graduate-level coursework
Will prepare ATs to work in middle and high schools and with youth athletes
A 2021 study found 12M athletes ages 5-22 suffers a sports-related injury annually, leading to 20M lost days of school and $33B in injury-related medical costs.
🐂 Upcoming Event: JohnWallStreet’s Youth Sports Summit
As we plan our youth sports business conference for next spring in Philly, I am excited to share that we are partnering with JohnWallStreet for their youth sports summit in NY next month.
If you would like to attend the event, you can register your interest here (spots are limited!).
JWS - which covers the intersection of sports and finance - was an inspiration of mine to start Buying Sandlot, so I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Corey and his team on this one.
For our premium members, please check Slack today as we have some spots available for you. If you are not a Buying Sandlot premium member, you can join here.
🧱 Facilities Arms Race: Anonymous Donor Edition
Courtesy of Farm and Forge
A 118-acre sports complex in the Nashville area is being funded by an unnamed benefactor.
Farm and Forge will be located in College Grove, Tennessee, and aims to become “a training hub for high-level athletes as well as less privileged kids,” according to SBJ.
Some parts of the complex will open this fall.
18 tennis courts — 12 indoor, 6 clay
Outdoor football field with NFL combine-style training lines
Artificial turf training hills
Hydration and recovery zones
82K-square-foot training center with 70-yard turf field, 4-lane track, weight room
About 50 full-time employees
The cost of the project is unknown. The complex is expected to seek naming rights revenue streams, host youth tournaments and offer tennis training, league play and a non-residential academy.
The training center will operate as a membership facility.
🎓 Some Positive College Sports Participation Stats
The NCAA had a record 554K athletes participate across its three divisions during the 2024-25 academic year.
There were almost 20K teams in Divisions 1-3, also a new high.
And there were over 200K D1 athletes for the first time in over 40 years
These figures are before the House settlement took effect, of course. But they are noteworthy given the concerns and debates about the future of college Olympic and non-revenue sports, and IMG Academy’s push to #AddMoreAthletes.
🏈 Flag Football Hits International Stage
The Fanatics Flag Football Classic — featuring a loaded roster of current and former NFL stars headlined by Tom Brady and Saquon Barkley — will be played next March in Saudi Arabia.
The event will be televised by Fox and play under Olympics rules ahead of the sport’s debut at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles — and amid its domestic explosion at the youth level.
My immediate reactions:
1) Tom Brady is definitely thinking about being Team USA’s QB at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
2) Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund must be paying so much money that active players are not worried about injuries and voiding their contracts.
3) Youth flag football is only going to grow in exposure and popularity with household names and star players participating, even if it’s a one-off for now.
💼 Youth Sports Transaction Wire
D1 Training — one of Buying Sandlot’s presenting sponsors — has appointed Jeff Fish as its Senior Director of Coaching.
Fish brings over 30 years of experience as a college and professional strength and conditioning coach and performance director to the sports training franchise.
Fish previously worked for four NFL teams, three D1 athletics departments and an NBA team. He has also spent time in the private fitness sector.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
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Good game.