Metropolitan Oval, Soccer Stars United Form New Developmental Platform

This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.

Let’s get to it.

Soccer Stars bills itself as a crib-to-college youth soccer development platform.

The Youth Athletes United-owned franchise has strengthened that pathway in the Big Apple.

Metropolitan Oval and Soccer Stars United are launching Met Oval SSU. The program will be based in Manhattan and train on Randall’s Island.

SSU is Soccer Stars’ advanced travel platform that operates in select markets, including New York. Met Oval’s academy has roots going back a century and has placed hundreds of players in NCAA programs over the last decade with 75 alumni moving on to MLS or international professional environments.

“We want kids to enjoy the game and have fun while learning the fundamentals of sport. And we want them to know they can stay with one brand and have a real pathway,” YAU co-founder and CEO Adam Geisler told Buying Sandlot.

“If they just want to enjoy soccer, great. If they want to take it to another level and start being competitive, we have a pathway. If they want to continue their pursuits at that next elite level, whether it is collegiate or professional, we now have a partnership with Met Oval. There is no other entity in the country that could really have that type of opportunity for the parent or kid.”

“The genesis of this idea was how could we find a synergistic partner that has incredible experience, reputation and acumen,” Soccer Stars VP Toby Tenenbaum said. “This is an opportunity to have that truly holistic opportunities for our families to stay with us. It kind of completes that journey.”

Met Oval sporting director Jeffrey Saunders said he believes the partnership is an example of how a nonprofit youth sports organization can productively collaborate with a for-profit entity and provide access to all and expedite development.

“In order to provide a true developmental environment, you have to have an ethos that’s consistent with development,” he said. “We have to align what are the developmental goals, what are we offering the kids and how is that benefited by entities who are investing in and expanding that environment. We can say, ‘Hey, listen, we can do this the right way.’”

Geisler said there is “definitely potential” for SSU to form similar partnerships with clubs in other cities, but the immediate focus is on proving the concept in New York.

“If we can start and get in with kids at an earlier age group, we can increase the probability of success for each of those kids,” Saunders said. “And each of those kids are going to have a different path. Not everyone is going to become a professional or go play D1. But we want to make sure they reach their ceiling all the time.”

The youth sports platform — now owned by PlayMetrics, of course — announced it will be the NGB’s official team management partner through 2030.

This deal is a pretty big statement by PlayMetrics.

SportsEngine has been the dominant player in swimming for some time. SportsEngine Motion is the rebrand name for TeamUnify, which has existed for almost two decades.

The PlayMetrics acquisition has, accordingly, been a big topic in swimming circles — specifically whether PlayMetrics would continue offering swim-specific tools or fold SportsEngine Motion into its broader system.

The answer seems pretty clear now — PlayMetrics CEO Michael Doernberg said swimming was “a meaningful part” of the acquisition and there are plans to strengthen swim investments and go deeper with integrations.

“We're excited to continue supporting the swim community with technology built specifically for the operational needs of the sport,” he said.

Black Bear — a former Buying Sandlot sponsor — provided this statement regarding the Let Kids Play Act:

Nierman also said Black Bear "is not private equity, nor is the company controlled by private equity. It’s a family company that has a passion for saving ice rinks."

The latter comments are particularly pertinent in the context of the Let Kids Play Act — not just for Black Bear, but for the entire industry.

As Kyle outlined yesterday in our special send — the most important term in the bill is “covered firm,” which is defined as:

And PE is defined as:

In simpler terms: PE → Covered firm → Banned from youth sports if the bill passes.

A now-dismissed defamation complaint filed in Maryland federal court last year named Black Bear, founder and then-CEO Murry Gunty and Blackstreet Capital Holdings, LLC as co-plaintiffs.

Blackstreet was also founded by Gunty; it says it is not a PE fund on its website.

The complaint — obtained by Buying Sandlot — stated Blackstreet was "one of the two controlling shareholders in Black Bear Sports Group.” The judge also wrote Gunty “jointly owns BBSG with Blackstreet” in her opinion memorandum dismissing the complaint in January and press releases, webpages and news reporting have also connected the companies.

The bottom line: If the bill passes — which is still a long shot at this point — the subsequent test is relatively straightforward.

Entities are either outside Section 3(a) of the Investment Company Act and are not considered PE or a covered firm. Or they have a Section 3(c) exception and meet the PE/covered firm criteria.

The bill does give the FTC room to deem covered firm status on substance rather than structure (and likely set off an avalanche of litigation). And covered firm status would obviously not factor into general antitrust enforcement.

This is hopefully something everyone in the youth sports industry can agree on.

A baseball and softball complex at the “Field of Dreams” movie site would be pretty awesome.

The Dyersville, Iowa, attraction just got a $13M funding boost between public and private dollars, putting it about 80% of the way toward a $120M master plan that includes the aforementioned complex.

Quick Take: AI must be able to turn the late Ray Liotta around and have him bat lefty at this point, right?

The youth baseball super club platform announced that USA Prime New England — a complex in North Andover, Massachusetts — is now an official location for its Curve Sports testing program.

Curve — former by CEO Sandy Ogg and backed by Weatherford Capital — was formed as a merger of Curve Test Centers and Diamond Allegiance.

The U.S. Travel Association may have given anyone looking to build a youth sports complex a new talking point.

The organization recently published a report on group travel that suggests youth sports tourism can fuel corporate tourism.

A Hyatt VP quoted in the report said youth sports tourism is “underrated” and a "significant business, especially for cities outside the top metropolitans."

The report also found mid-sized cities -- e.g. Boise or Richmond, Virginia -- are experiencing corporate travel booms due to lower costs.

Adding the two together: Cities that invest in a) youth sports complexes and b) surrounding dining/entertainment/lodging options can generate affinity and interest from visiting parents that carries over into business travel decisions.

Also of note: 92% of all parents want to travel with their kids in the next year.

The SEC school has reinstated its men’s and women’s teams, three weeks after eliminating them.

AD Hunter Yurachek said donors have provided enough to cover the programs in the short term, but that "a significant endowment remains the only feasible long-term solution to ensure the sustainability of our tennis programs."

Even more striking: Yurachek said a group of tennis supporters are working on the endowment, but Arkansas will be following that process and "ensuring it does not detract from any of our broader fundraising priorities."

Don’t even think about giving tennis a single buck that could go toward a point guard or the buyout for the next offensive coordinator we run out of town.

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Good game.