This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
Quick poll before we get started: We are planning to host an event next spring in Philly— the youth sports business conference.
If Buying Sandlot hosted a Youth Sports Business Conference in Philadelphia next spring (2-day event), how likely would you be to attend?
In the email today:
🥎 IMG Academy Partners With AUSL
IMG and the MLB-backed Athletes Unlimited Softball League announced a collaboration “aimed at inspiring and empowering the next generation of female student-athletes.”
There will be IMG Academy Youth Nights at four AUSL events this summer, starting with tonight in Round Rock, Texas.
IMG Academy Director of Softball Joey Lye will headline each theme night
On-site hitting clinics
Giveaways and live activations
Social media integrations
Email and digital presence
Brand visibility and media exposure
AUSL has four teams and is playing an inaugural 24-game regular season followed by the AUSL All-Star Cup competition. The league is barnstorming this summer with dates in 12 cities, but is expected to have home venues for clubs in 2026.
AUSL is the evolution of Athletes Unlimited’s previous professional softball operation.
Former Miami Marlins GM Kim Ng is the AUSL commissioner.
IMG is aiming to get itself in front of more youth athletes and families in regions that are softball hotbeds.
That could be a blueprint that duplicates around other emerging pro leagues in growing sports — lacrosse and volleyball stand out for starters.
Softball may be the next women’s sport to experience a boom. Participation numbers are rising, there are ample facilities nationwide and it is becoming a valuable media product. The game also moves fast, which is important for modern attention spans.
🗞️ Prep Network Launches National Coverage Platform
The market-leading club sports event operator’s new homepage — PrepNetwork.com — will be a dedicated platform for national news, athlete profiles, product reviews and video content.
We will also be contributing weekly business roundup pieces to the website.
PN already has over 400 writers producing 4K articles each month
Over 10M readers and 350 annual events
The homepage will amplify the reporting and expand coverage
Anwar Stetson is the new managing editor alongside editor-in-chief Jared Nelson
Former New York Times writer and GearJunkie founder Stephen Regenold is a strategic advisor
🎟️ Duesy is Reimagining the Youth Sports Tournament Experience — One Text Message at a Time*
98% of text messages are read, compared to less than 20% of emails and app notifications.
The typical conversion rate of a text message campaign is 30%, compared to less than 5% for email and app notifications.
The tournament experience starts at the gate. It's time to upgrade your gate experience from a transactional cash or credit card reader to a platform that engages attendees and streamlines your operations.
Duesy is a text-led ticketing platform that simplifies the gate experience.
That means:
Tickets are delivered via text
Attendees receive an automated welcome message once they are inside an event
Tournament operators obtain a verified mobile number for every coach and attendee
At a recent KC Sports World Series youth baseball tournament with over 100 teams participating, Duesy provided the infrastructure for more than 6,300 ticket sales.
Families not only received a tournament bracket via text message once inside the gate, but they also received a 20% off coupon to Academy Sports (a KC Sports sponsor).
This meant:
Families received added value for playing in the tournament
Academy Sports reached a highly-targeted and engaged audience
KC Sports activated a sponsor in an innovative and frictionless way
This is just one way Duesy is reimagining the tournament experience.
You can also watch our podcast interview with Duesy co-founder Tony Caudill right here.
Note: Duesy does not have a direct relationship with Academy Sports. The offer was delivered on behalf of KC Sports, who maintains the sponsor relationship.
*Sponsored
🏈 Virginia Tech’s Latest Football Helmet Ratings
Researchers at the school have been producing annual ratings of all helmets on the market since 2011.
The goal: Objective data on which equipment best reduces concussion risk based on several dozen impact tests in a laboratory setting.
A pendulum designed to match helmet-to-helmet characteristics in youth football is used to test the helmets. We measure linear and rotational accelerations for each impact, which are correlated to concussion risk. We test the helmet's front, front boss, side, and back at low, medium, and high impact energies. — VT Helmet Lab
Six youth helmets received five-star scores this year, the highest possible — and a 75% YoY decrease after the testing was recalibrated.
Light Apache Lightning Youth
Vicis Zero2 Youth
Xenith Shadow XR Youth
Vicis Zero1 Youth
Riddell Speedflex Diamond Youth
Xenith Shadow Youth
13 helmets received four stars. Researchers recommend youth athletes only use four- and five-star helmets.
🧱 Facilities Arms Race: Brown Deer, Wisconsin
A $50M youth sports complex and events center is up for approval in the Milwaukee suburb.
Cobalt Partners, the development firm behind the pitch, has proposed "a vibrant, walkable district that integrates sports and recreation with hospitality, small-scale retail, and community gathering spaces mindful of the existing environment."
Two hockey rinks
Multiple basketball, volleyball and futsal courts
Indoor turf field
Food and beverage program
Other sports, wellness and fitness offerings
The Sports Facilities Companies is leading design, programming and financial modeling for Cobalt. SFC will also work with the town’s tourism commission on market research pending approval.
The facility would be a public-private partnership— Cobalt is proposing Brown Deer support the project through a $2.5M tax increment district.
🏈 Ohio Sanctions Girls HS Flag Football
The revolution continues.
Ohio is the 17th state to grant varsity status to the fastest-growing high school sport.
There are also pilot programs in at least 16 other states and the District of Columbia.
Expect more states to sanction or launch pilot programs now that NFHS has a uniform rulebook.
The OHSAA made the formal announcement yesterday as the NFL FLAG Championships kicked off in Canton featuring 3K athletes over four days of competition.
The home city of the Pro Football Hall of Fame is also the site of Unrivaled Sports’ major flag tournaments (and its ForeverLawn Park facility)
💼 Youth Sports Transaction Wire
Chris Hoppe is the new EVP at AIM Sports Group. He was most recently Pitt’s deputy athletics director and will be “responsible for strategic leadership, overseeing operations, and spearheading initiatives to positively impact AIM’s growth and strategic direction.”
Danielle Lafferty will be BASE Sports Group’s Director of Operator Development. The former NJCAA championships and event operations director will "work with event and facility operators and strengthen relationships, optimize experiences and ensure successful activation of brand partnerships across youth sports."
🔗 Youth Sports Links
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Good game.