This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
Happy New Year! As you probably noticed, we took the last two weeks off to recharge, but we’re back and ready for a big year as we prepare for the Buying Sandlot Summit April 14-15 in Philly.
Today, we welcome our new Head of Social, Kyle Pagan. Yes, another Kyle.
Kyle is one of the best content creators I (also Kyle) have ever seen. I hired him at my last company, Crossing Broad, where he quickly became one of the most recognizable media figures in Philly. Kyle has unbelievable range as his interviews with professional athletes, sports fans, pro team owners, championship-winning coaches and GMs, and politicians - including the sitting governor of Pennsylvania in his own apartment - have been viewed tens of millions of times, with his work being featured on everything from ESPN to New Heights.
There is nobody better to engage with the youth sports community and surface new information to distribute across our LinkedIn, X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook accounts than Kyle. Expect to see and hear a lot more from us, and from the people building the future of youth sports, in your feeds soon.
Let’s get to it.
In the email today:
⚾️ Perfect Game Expands In Pacific Rim
The baseball and softball developmental platform will significantly grow its presence in the Asia-Pacific Zone with a focus on athletes ages 10-15.
PG will partner with Takaharu Nasu, a prominent figure in Japanese youth baseball. Countries of focus include Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.
PG’s DiamondKast digital scoring and data platform will roll out in the region for the first time; PG will also hold showcase events to "to measure individual player data while discovering talented youth baseball players throughout the region."
Asian youth teams will also compete in U.S.-based PG events this year.
PG previously unveiled a four-year strategy for the 15U Pacific Baseball Championship tournament, including plans to host the international event at Japanese venues in 2027 and ‘29.
Perfect Game CEO Rob Ponger is our guest on the podcast this week. Drops tomorrow.
🏟️ Get Early Bird Tickets For The Buying Sandlot Summit Before Prices Increase
Early bird ticket prices will only be available for a limited time and will increase this month.
Before the holiday, we unveiled a handful of speakers: John Stewart (CEO, Fastbreak AI), Aman Loomba (SVP Product, GameChanger), Jordan Baltimore (CEO, NY Empire Baseball), and Jason Sacks (CEO, Positive Coaching Alliance).
In the coming days we’ll roll out a banger list of speakers, so this lineup will quickly grow to a who’s who of youth sports.
If your organization would like group ticket pricing for 5 or more, or would like our sponsor deck, you can also contact [email protected].
⚽️ Q+A With Rush Soccer’s Justin Miller
We are officially in a World Cup year — and kickoff is just six months away.
We spoke to Rush Soccer CEO Justin Miller for our latest Buying Sandlot Q+A, touching on a slew of big topics — what the World Cup can mean for American youth soccer, the national development system, MLS and USL, areas for growth and concern, etc.
The full Q+A can be found here, but I wanted to highlight a really interesting take Miller has on the “pay-to-play” model. His argument? It has allowed soccer to grow in the U.S.
“It is undeniable that [youth soccer] is expensive. But I also think it’s undeniable that this sport in this country has birthed from the grassroots.
“Soccer is now tied for the fourth-most popular sport in the country. It was not in the conversation 20 years ago. So many fans of the sport are created because they either played soccer at one point or they put their kid in it. Every general sport is driven by the pro leagues and media attention. Soccer is not there, there is not a natural interest in the sport.
“The most participation is in the grassroots, but you can’t fuel the grassroots without a pay-to-play model. It’s a little bit of a chicken-or-the-egg. I hope that changes some day, because I think the base of the pyramid is the most important part. I hope this country is so in love with the sport that there are a ton of eyes on the pro level and that is what is building interest.”
🧱 Facilities Arms Race: Big Bend, Wisconsin
A small village near Milwaukee could be the site of a sprawling indoor-outdoor complex with a potential price tag north of $200M.
The proposed Breck Athletic Complex would be constructed in eight stages and is expected to cost between $175M and $225M. Developers said it would be designed to evoke a “Colorado mountain town.”
7 soccer fields
6 turf baseball fields
Championship baseball field with plaza
4 lacrosse fields
3 futsal fields
155K-square-foot indoor turf facility
1.5K parking spots
Plans for a banquet hall, restaurant, hotel, gas station, retail spaces
Developers said they have already landed long-term deals with national tournament organizers. A major youth soccer club in the region would be a complex partner and tenant.
The proposal has generated controversy — Big Bend’s population is about 1.5K and the project would require rezoning 42 acres of farmland into a commercial district. Project designers said the complex would be compatible with the community and are aiming to open in 2027.
Big Bend is about 90 minutes from Chicago and Madison.
A public hearing on the project is scheduled for Jan. 29.
🏢 Other Youth Sports Facilities News
Amarillo, Texas: Local officials are considering a multi-use development project near John Stiff Memorial Park that could include a hotel that targets youth sports tourism customers. Ground has also broken in the city on the $30M Rockrose Sports Park.
Brown Deer, Wisconsin: The developer behind a proposed $50M complex and events center near Milwaukee has bought the site land for $3.2M. The Sports Facilities Companies is part of the project; no construction timeline has been set yet. Quick Take: Because we know you are wondering — Big Bend and Brown Deer are about 30 miles apart. And one of our editorial goals this year is to better understand at what point economic impact is, well, impacted when large tournament facilities are constructed in close proximity to each other.
Kuna, Idaho: True Gritt Sports — which is bidding to build a massive $120M complex in the Boise area — hosted its first-ever event on New Year’s Eve, a flag football competition. The group recently scored a legislative win when the potential site for the project was rezoned to commercial space.
Pendleton, Oregon: A local non-profit has received an option to buy 40 acres of public land for a proposed youth sports complex. The facility would house baseball, softball and soccer fields; the non-profit has received $3M in state funding already. Pendleton is three hours east of Portland, three hours north of Boise and three hours south of Spokane.
Reno, Nevada: Jacobs Entertainment has filed its first permit to build a youth soccer field. The company operates a casino resort in the city and plans to invest in up to a dozen new fields, as well as a new organization that would focus on attracting sports tourism to the region.
🦚 On The SportsEngine Beat
Versant — the Comcast cable network spinoff company that owns the youth sports management and streaming platform — will begin trading today on the Nasdaq. The ticker symbol will be VSNT.
What does that mean for a potential SportsEngine sale? Hard to say at the moment.
If Versant is well down the road with a potential buyer, the official launch could expedite the process. But it also could put things on the back-burner for a quarter or two — most newly-public companies want to settle in before making big deals.
Either way the earnings calls, filings, etc. that will soon follow should shine more light on what Versant is and isn’t thinking re: SportsEngine.
While on the subject: Some interesting speculation from Puck’s John Ourand and sports media analyst Michael Nathanson on The Varsity podcast — if Netflix closes its planned Warner Bros. Discovery takeover, Versant would be the “natural buyer” for TNT Sports. That would create many more potential synergies with SportsEngine.
🏀 Youth Sports Tech Platforms Are Missing a Big Piece of the Puzzle*
Tourney Direct is a platform that unifies communications, scheduling, staffing and payments across all roles through intelligent automation that simplifies workflows, predicts staffing gaps and unearths insights to drive profits and retention.
Tourney Direct becomes an event operator’s “co-captain” by honing in on 5 core principles:
Fixing the system, not symptoms: Increasing manpower or outsourcing to outside agencies is nothing more than a temporary bandage. Tourney Direct calms the chaos with an intelligent operating system that runs youth sports simpler, smarter and at scale.
Automation tames chaos: Everything is unified through Tourney Direct. Organizers are no longer bogged down with comms, scheduling, staffing and payments. Tourney Direct even gets ahead of problems by identifying issues before they even start.
Intelligent growth: Tourney Direct learns from each event and applies the lessons in the future. Features like stipend benchmarking, churn forecasts, real-time data and predictive alerts allow organizers to optimize events and catalyze profitability.
Empowering staff: Last-minute stress is reduced and community is strengthened with visibility into cancellations, instant notifications and a two-click transfer tool. Organizers and staff stay connected, reliable and ready, fostering retention.
Scalable success with shared outcomes: Tourney Direct’s success is tied to its clients with several revenue models; efficiencies and insights compound over time and spur faster growth.
Learn more about how Tourney Direct can help run your business right here.
*Sponsor
🔗 Youth Sports Links
Follow on LinkedIn: Kyle Scott, James Kratch, Kyle Pagan
Good game.