This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
First up, lots of conversation about AI. How are you using it? Answer to see results.
Where is AI actually showing up in your youth sports business?
Let’s get to it.
In the email today:
🧢 IMG Academy Shuffles Leadership Deck
Two big moves:
COO Mike Milliron has been promoted to president of IMG’s campus
Digital media exec Fred Santarpia is now president of IMG’s online academy
Milliron will “oversee the strategic direction, growth and operations of IMG Academy's Bradenton, Florida campus businesses, including its boarding school, camps, events and team training, Legacy Hotel and IMG Academy Golf Club.”
Santarpia — most recently Endeavor’s President of Streaming — will “lead the organization's digital businesses, including IMG Academy+, NCSA and SportsRecruits.”
Santarpia succeeds Chris Ciaccio, who had led IMG Academy Online while also serving as chief commercial officer. Ciaccio - a speaker at our Buying Sandlot Summit - has been at IMG for almost 30 years, and will remain with the organization and "focus on commercial aspects of the campus business and organizational brand and commercial synergies."
I view this as yet another bullish sign for the convergence of athletics and education. For one, it’s notable that IMG’s business is big enough to have separate individuals who oversee the physical campus and the expanding digital offering. The latter includes IMG’s recently released digital platform, IMG Academy+, which distributes on-demand access to IMG’s resources and even one-to-one training.
In a world where sports, mental and physical education are becoming more important, quality and trust in content and curriculum are paramount. IMG is uniquely positioned as a leader in - and in many ways the canonical example of - sports education to succeed well beyond the boundaries of its 600-acre campus.
And none of that includes IMG Elevate, the school’s only B2B business which combines its in-person expertise and digital offerings into a platform aimed at organizations and schools.
Lots of opportunity here, at all levels.
🏟️ What Do Youth Sports Sponsorships Return?*
Brands are getting heavily involved in youth sports.
But are the investments paying off?
BASE Sports Group will hold a panel discussion — ROI for Brands and the Data That Backs It Up — at the first-ever Youth Sports Sponsorship Forum on Nov. 4 at New York’s Chelsea Piers
What brands can actually measure
The KPIs that matter before a deal is signed
How to determine real value
… and more
Next week’s event will bring together a curated group of marketers, operators, data experts, media members and industry leaders to discuss the most important topics about sponsorship in youth sports.
Among the companies and organizations scheduled to attend: Amazon, Geico, LinkedIn, Meta, Nike and many others.
Interested in joining them? Reach out here
*Sponsor
🩻 Using Tech To Prevent Youth Sports Injuries
There are not many things that remain exempt from debate these days, but pMotion is built on two:
Math does not lie. And physics are undefeated.
The predictive health platform analyzes an athlete’s body to identify compensation sources and develop simple daily protocols to either prevent injury or catalyze recovery.
The tech is well-established with Olympians and professional teams, but pMotion is now looking to rapidly expand into youth sports via a smartphone-based app.
The company recently closed a seven-figure Series A raise and teamed with Unrivaled Sports and NJ Youth Soccer. More partnerships are in the works, CEO Jason Woo told Buying Sandlot.
“It’s not about a matter of if [an injury is] going to happen, it's when it's going to happen,” Woo said. “At the atomic level, all humans have to deal with gravity. All humans have compensation patterns, and we can mathematically define it and correct it.”
Founded by Dr. Keith Pyne, a medical advisor for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers
2-minute body scan using app
50+ points of measurement to ID compensation source
Analyzes impacts of downward, ground reaction forces on body
Creates individualized plans for prevention/recovery
Over 10K youth athletes currently on platform; partnerships will add about 920K
“It applies that same level of kind of rigor as if Dr. Pyne and our medical experts were in the room to be able to say, ‘These are the injuries that you will see based on your compensation patterns,’” Woo said. “We apply mathematics, neurology and we apply physiology to the anatomy to be able to actually predict that. We go through the entire kinetic chain. We identify the type of physics that are being created and distributed throughout the body. Where there is leakage is typically where you get injuries.”
Woo said the platform can measure the valgus angle in a knee — a critical factor in ACL injuries, particularly for female athletes — down to the degree before creating a daily regimen that eliminates the issue. The platform can also identify the precursors that lead to elbow and shoulder injuries in sports like baseball, flag a concussion based on neck range of motion and work to prevent Achilles tears.
The Unrivaled and NJYS partnerships feature on-site scans, but Woo said the tech can be used by parents at home just as effectively. The company has worked in recent years to tune its algorithm to account for development age in youth athletes, but the core function is uniform across generations. Woo said many parents begin using the platform after their kids; the tech has even helped octogenarians eliminate sciatic nerve pain.
PMotion is currently available through its partnerships, but Woo said the goal is wide adoption. It offers an annual subscription at $55 a month or seasonal at $65 a month; it also has a family package option.
🚨 Youth Sports’ Safety Woes In Action
The Detroit News published a stunning report yesterday on a youth soccer coach who says he will keep coaching despite being suspended by U.S. Center for SafeSport and, effectively, the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Coach sent almost 4K texts to teenage club player over 18 months
Texts were "increasingly personal and flirtatious"
No criminal charges; cops said behavior was “consistent with grooming”
Athlete’s mother said relationship “took away her innocence”
Coach directed athlete to delete texts; cops unable to recover them
Coach resigned from his role as a high school coach
The coach and his wife reportedly told club parents that the ban only applies to “outdoor soccer,” so he can coach futsal and do indoor training.
The couple also challenged SafeSport’s finding he had an intimate relationship with a minor, according to the report, and said they are appealing. They blamed a Michigan State Youth Soccer Association policy that adults cannot text kids one-on-one for the situation.
MSYSA is the state organization under the USSF/USYS umbrella, hence the matter crossing SafeSport’s desk.
Quick Take: A jarring example of how the lack of federal standards has created a patchwork system where, even when SafeSport and an NGB act, there is really nothing stopping a sanctioned coach from evading punishment. It’s also a great reminder of why leaders like SafeSport’s Benita Fitzgerald Mosley and Unrivaled’s Meredith Thompson say all interactions with coaches and kids should be observable and interruptible.
⚖️ Facilities Arms Race Legal Update: Johnston, Iowa
The developer behind a failed youth sports complex project near Des Moines has filed for bankruptcy, days after suffering a seven-figure setback in court.
A refresher: The planned $55M, 250K-square-foot Ignit venue was supposed to open in Johnston in 2024. That never happened. The property was foreclosed upon last year as the developer was sued by the city, a local bank and at least two investors.
Back to the present: Ignit Johnston LLC has filed Chapter 11, according to Business Record, after a judge ordered it to pay $4.2M in damages to the bank, plus attorneys fees, court costs and interest. The city is also still seeking $3.8M in fees and grants. And there are $1.8M in lines against the property.
FWIW: The developer “remains committed to pursuing a path that will allow the project to move forward and ultimately be completed," according to a press release from the law firm it has retained.
🧱 More Youth Sports Facilities News
Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Officials want to make $44M in investments for a new youth soccer complex, expansion of an existing complex and field renovations. The soccer venue would have four fields; plans also call to add an indoor turf soccer field to the existing venue and replace its current turf with four basketball courts/eight volleyball courts.
Edwardsville, Illinois: A new 50K-square-foot indoor venue is set to open soon. It will have five basketball courts that convert into nine volleyball courts; the facility will host tournaments and also serve the local community.
Gluckstadt, Mississippi: The $10M TD Select Baseball facility will open by the end of the year. The 40-acre complex will have 10 indoor batting cages, four outdoor diamonds and two outdoor soccer pitches. Plans call for 4-6 more multi-purpose fields.
McKinney, Texas: City officials have committed $500K in early design costs for a proposed 300-acre sports and entertainment complex. The developer behind the project will kick in an additional $500K.
Phoenix, Arizona: The Mercury and Suns will back a $60M downtown YMCA facility. It will be three stories and 55K square feet with three basketball courts; there will also be 60 affordable housing units built in conjunction with the project ahead of its 2029 opening.
Vero Beach, Florida: A $37.3M hotel will be built near the MLB-owned Jackie Robinson Training Complex, which hosts a bevy of youth sports events. The project will also include a Topgolf-esque Home Run Dugout venue.
📊 Poll: How Do You Use AI?
Where is AI actually showing up in your youth sports business?
🔗 Youth Sports Links
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