This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
Big send today!
In the email today:
🏒 Exclusive: Pixellot, TPE Take To The Ice
Pixellot and The Prospect Exchange have joined forces on a hockey-focused collaboration, Buying Sandlot has learned.
The partnership establishes a direct connection between Pixellot's AI-powered air cameras and TPE's analytics platform, resolving workflow friction issues related to uploading video to analytics tools.
Footage from Pixellot cameras will now automatically flow to TPE.
Pixellot North American President Rob DeSalvo: "Working with TPE demonstrates our continued commitment to making automated sports production available where it matters most. We're delighted to bring Pixellot's technology into the heart of elite hockey and fully support TPE's mission to drive performance through smart, scalable innovation."
TPE COO Mark Yates: "Integrating with Pixellot makes it even easier for coaches and scouts to get the video content they need into the tools they use every day. It's a major step towards making elite-level analytics more accessible, efficient and impactful."
This partnership significantly expands Pixellot's hockey business. The firm said it developed a sport-specific algorithm optimized to fully automate its hockey video.
In our Youth Sports Facility Report released yesterday, we noted the challenges of multi-sport video streaming and capture. Pixellot says it is working on custom solutions per-sport: “Unlike one-size-fits-all systems, Pixellot builds sport-specific algorithms to ensure each solution is optimised for the unique dynamics of the game — a key differentiator for coaches and leagues seeking performance-focused tools.”
TPE has immense scale — over 60K games analyzed annually, over 5K user teams worldwide and close to 1M players reviewed all-time. And now all of those clients have incentive to adopt Pixellot's technology.
An important thing to keep in mind when it comes to hockey: Elite players can go from youth sports to the professional ranks faster than any other major sport.
Pixellot and TPE say their partnership will provide the infrastructure necessary for higher-level teams to make those critical decisions — and will allow top prospects to be discovered more easily and placed in pipelines.
TPE says it boasts the biggest hockey video library in North America and its platform allows for efficient evaluation and scouting, as well as player development insights and tools.
Youth sports streaming is an extremely fractured market, as we have written about at length. The most direct path to consolidation might be through partnerships like this that unlock entire new sports ecosystems.
GameChanger has baseball and softball locked down and appears to be gunning for basketball thanks to its new partnerships with the WNBA via parent company Dick’s Sporting Goods. Maybe Pixellot now emerges in hockey?
It is already a behemoth, streaming 150K games a month in 70 countries. But there are a lot of pucks and rinks in the U.S. and Canada.
📊 Poll
As I (Kyle) mentioned last send, we had an overwhelmingly positive response to our poll about hosting a 2-day youth sports business conference in Philly next spring. Help us make it great.
Which topic would you be most interested in learning more about from speakers and panelists at the conference?
⚾️ Little League Legal Drama Update
A New Jersey judge reinstated a suspended 12-year-old Little Leaguer hours before his team was set to play for the state championship.
ICYMI:
The kid flipped his bat after hitting a home run in a July 16 game
Umpires ejected him, triggering an automatic 1-game suspension
The next game was yesterday’s start of the four-team, double-elimination state final
Little League International supported the umpires and upheld the suspension
The kid’s father then filed for an emergency TRO, which was granted yesterday
The dad argued LLI promotes bat flips on social media and ESPN’s Little League World Series broadcasts— LLI claimed the kid broke rules against “horse play” and the umpires had the discretion
The judge said “there is immediate and reparable harm that would befall this youth” if the suspension was allowed to remain in place.
"He can’t get this game back," Judge Robert G. Malestein wrote in his decision, according to NJ Advance Media.
LLI said it was disappointed in the ruling, but would respect it.
The kid’s Haddonfield team got run-ruled last night and will play again tonight in an elimination game.
🧱 Proposed Colorado Facility Is A Doozy
There is A LOT going on here.
Zebulon Regional Sports Complex — a 500-acre “mega” facility — has been proposed for Sterling Ranch, a Denver suburb
Early concepts call for basketball, pickleball and volleyball courts, ice rinks, a domed baseball field and open spa
The Douglas County Commissioners recently approved a $410K consulting contract to begin early planning
One county commissioner claims the complex will generate $1B in regional economic impact in its first phase
Yes, that is billion with a “b.”
But … there are a few big buts, and they do not lie.
The project is already divisive— there is significant community pushback, including some youth sports groups and organizations
It does not have a projected cost yet
Officials have not articulated how they would fund the project, other than to suggest a public-private partnership
The complex would be built on the site of a former dynamite manufacturing plant with a history of pollution issues, sparking environmental concerns
Explosive debate here. We will follow it like Wile E. Coyote following the Roadrunner.
This sounds like the plot of an episode of South Park!
All kidding aside: The Future Legends Complex debacle happened (and is still happening) about 90 minutes from the proposed Zebulon site. That has to be fresh in the minds of many interested parties, I’d imagine.
It sounds like there are just too many sticking points for this to ever get built, but we will see.
📈 88% of Youth Sports Facilities Owners Say They Seek Investment
We released our GREAT YOUTH SPORTS FACILITY REPORT™®®®™ yesterday to premium members.
This is one of just many interesting data points available in the report.
63% of our respondents said they are seeking or plan to seek investment in the next 12 months, 25% said they may seek it.
What drives the need for capital?
Infrastructure.
Owners talk more about needing capital for roofs, insulation, HVAC and outdoor build‑outs than about software or marketing.
86% of respondents who complained about infrastructure answered a flat-out yes to this question.
Premium members can meet some of them in our private Slack group.
Become a premium member here.
📹 Canadian Privacy Probe Involves Youth Sports Streamer
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has launched an investigation after LiveBarn cameras live streamed summer camps without permission.
The hockey-first streamer’s cameras were set up for broadcasts at several recreational facilities
Cameras were live when kids participated in non-sports activities within view
Officials told CBC the probe is in the early stages
LiveBarn said no footage was downloaded or shared, blaming “scheduling errors”
LiveBarn’s streaming schedules are controlled by clients, not the streamer
Any footage would have only been available to LiveBarn subscribers
Some of the cameras may have been live for months before the issue was detected, according to the CBC. LiveBarn is said to be cooperating with the various cities and its cameras have been disabled at several of the venues.
Early indications are nothing nefarious happened here and this was, as LiveBarn said in its statement to the CBC, a case of “accidental human error.”
But the stakes are higher in this situation given LiveBarn — which has a presence in close to 2K facilities across North America — is reportedly seeking a sale.
(The accidental live-streaming was discovered months after news of the sale attempt broke.)
🏈 Eli Manning Invests In Equipment Maker With Youth Sports Dreams
The two-time Super Bowl MVP has taken a stake in XTech.
The New Jersey-based company is one of the dominant shoulder pad providers for college and NFL teams. The pads are known for being lighter and more mobile than other providers without sacrificing protection.
XTech now plans to launch a youth football line — it told CNBC it expects that to happen in 2026. Manning is expected to be a big part of that rollout, acting as a spokesman after using XTech pads while playing for the New York Giants.
🐊 Florida Complex Takes A Big Step Forward
The state has delivered a $15M grant to Pinellas County after years of delays, clearing the path for a youth sports facility proposed for a 235-acre former landfill in St. Petersburg.
The Sports Facilities Companies is behind the multi-sport project. It has a projected cost of $150-$200M.
20 baseball and softball fields
17 multipurpose fields for football, lacrosse and soccer
24 pickleball courts
12 sand volleyball courts
Fairground and festival space
Over 2K parking spots
Can the Tampa Bay Rays play there too?
🔗 Youth Sports Links
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Good game.