This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
We will soon be locking in dates for our 2-day youth sports business conference in Philly next spring— which week would you prefer? It’s worth noting that the PGA Championship is in the area and starts competition on May 14 next year.
Which dates would work better for you?
In the email today:
📹 Rematch Partners With PSG Academy USA
Rematch launched in France before making its U.S. debut earlier this year.
It is fitting the sports highlights platform’s first major American partnership is with another French import.
Rematch has partnered with Paris Saint-Germain Academy USA, Buying Sandlot has learned — it will be the official highlights platform for the reigning Champions League winner’s stateside youth programs.
Rematch will support 6 PSG academies in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando and Phoenix
PSG Academy USA athletes, coaches and parents get free access to Rematch’s suite of tools to capture and instantly share highlights
Rematch will sync with team schedules, and PSG Academy USA personnel can use the platform for film study
Rematch will produce weekly “best of the best” branded highlight videos for PSG Academy USA for social media, as well as other curated content
“It’s huge. It could not be a more exciting and impactful partnership,” Rematch USA CEO Hanna Howard told Buying Sandlot. “It’s one of the biggest soccer clubs and brands in the world.”
PSG Academy USA programs range from U4 to U19. PSG has 8 academies in North America — 7 in the U.S. and 1 in Canada, where Rematch is not yet available.
PSG also has an elite residency program at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.
Howard initially pitched a partnership with PSG’s Miami academy, but the meeting with PSG Academy USA COO Manuel Montevidoni opened the door to a broader deal.
The partnership continues Rematch USA’s recent run of success.
The AI-powered platform allows users to “rewind” up to 15 seconds of footage captured through its app — eliminating the need to constantly record video in order to ensure big moments and plays are captured.
The partnership solidifies soccer as Rematch’s main sport for adoption at the moment. But it has had positive early returns from basketball users and Howard is bullish on the all-sports outlook.
“It’s not going to narrow our focus,” Howard said. “Soccer is the first sport we launched with, so it is three-and-a-half months ahead of basketball. We clearly learned the basketball parents love the app. It has its place to connect.”
I previously questioned whether Rematch’s main feature - rewinding 15 seconds of live action so you can retroactively record your kid’s highlight and save storage space on your phone - was enough to compel adoption.
But it’s clear Rematch’s go-to-market strategy is sound, and the easily-shareable nature of its clips is something users really want.
©Trend Watch™: Lots of video and streaming companies are currently focusing on solving AI-enabled clips (essentially plucking the gold) so parents can quickly view and share their kid’s highlights. I have a podcast coming out this week with Pixellot’s North American President Rob DeSalvo, and he explained how this is a big focus for his company through their partnership with NFHS Network (PlayOn), which steams over 600k high school events each year.
🏈 Zorts Powers Largest Girls Flag Football Tournament in the World*
Long-term sponsor Zorts recently powered a hugely successful girls flag football tournament outside of Philly.
The event is the largest girls flag football tournament in the world. It started with 74 teams four years ago— this year it featured 189! Beyond lightning-fast check-ins, Zorts kept things running without a hitch:
Over 2,500 players and coaches
Custom scheduling
Live bracket updates
Instant game notifications
For an event of this size, these features weren’t just convenient — they were a necessity, ensuring every athlete, coach, and parent knew exactly what was happening from the opening game to the championship.
Zorts technology makes participation easier for teams, schools, and leagues, fueling the rapid growth of girls’ flag football and opening the door for more young athletes to compete at the highest level.
“As we look ahead, Zorts mission remains the same — to grow the game, protect the players, and make every event smoother for athletes, coaches, and parents alike. This weekend in Philadelphia was just another step in a much bigger journey: ensuring that girls’ flag football gets the recognition, support, and platform it deserves.”
Learn more to see what Zorts and Flash Facial Recognition can do for your tournament right here.
*Sponsor
🧢 New Hype Fire Bat and Drip Dominate Little League World Series
also, solid work by Uncrustables
That there is the new 2026 Easton Hype Fire— and it is the preferred bat at the Little League World Series.
Easton (part of Rawlings) has been an official sponsor of the event for more than 30 years - extended through 2028 - and this year they worked with other sponsors like Adidas and New Era to come up with a comprehensive “gummy worm” colored theme. The green-yellow-pink hues can be seen on spikes, accessories, bats and helmets.
Players on the 20 teams that participated in last year’s World Series had input on this year’s theme, he explained.
When uniforms were distributed last year, corporate partner adidas had a board set up with design ideas for this year and sought comments from the players, he said.
Their input was used by Little League’s creative design team working with adidas, New Era, Rawlings and Easton to come up with the gummy worm theme, he said.
That theme was used for all seven of the organization’s baseball and softball world series.
Bat Digest reports that the Hype Fire is the most popular bat at the LLWS so far— with 59 players (35%) using it. The second and third most popular are also Rawlings-Easton products.
Clearly, everyone is leaning into the flashy trend that has dominated baseball over the last couple of years.
Specifically, Little League seems to be taking a page out of Pottstown Scout’s playbook of showering players with bright-colored sponsor wear, while Rawlings et al. use their might to beat younger brands like Bruce Bolt and Baseball Lifestyle at a game they created.
“They were kids in a candy store, and as a coach, I got goose bumps walking in there and I’m 38 years old, so I can only imagine what the 12-year-olds are thinking about while walking through that door, seeing all the gear they got,” said South Dakota’s manager, Ryan Vavruska. “We’re very fortunate to get here and to be blessed with all that gear.”
…
“When they opened the roller door down to the batting cages, the stampede started,” Australia manager Keith Land said. “These kids are going to be excited to go home and go, ‘Look what I’ve got and look what you haven’t got.’ They’ll rub it in, don’t worry about that.”
Google searches for “Easton Hype Fire” have spiked each night at 7 PM during ESPN’s prime time broadcasts:
We’ve reached out to Rawlings-Easton for more on the campaign and rollout, and will follow up with more if we get it.
I’ve heard more than one Boomer I know complain that the kids look ridiculous. There are no shortage of takes on the drip.
To which I say: “You’re complaining about kids wearing bright colors.”
That pointed retort is tough to come back from. Try it out.
Meanwhile, here’s my younger son proudly rocking his new Hype Fire he got for his birthday on Friday, alongside his old Pencil Bat:
Inexplicably, Dick’s had two of the new Hype Fires (which I didn’t even know existed) in stock last Wednesday when I walked into the store with his big brother just an hour before the first prime time LLWS broadcast. Point, Dad. Though I really need to start leveraging our audience size for some samples since big bro now wants one.
🧱 Major Brand’s Youth Sports Facility Naming Rights Play
Shell has landed a 10-year naming rights deal for a youth sports facility in Western Pennsylvania.
The M:7 Shell Sports Complex is located in Aliquippa, about 18 miles outside of Pittsburgh.
M:7 Sports is an agency headed by Jim Christiana, who spent a decade working in the state legislature.
The 40K-square-foot multisport indoor facility has turf space and several basketball/volleyball courts; there are also plans to host community events and provide academic offerings.
We have written here and there about naming rights for youth sports facilities and plan to do something larger on the topic in the future.
This is the first example we have come across where it appears a major brand got involved in large part because of its existing presence in a community.
Shell has a massive 386-acre complex about a 10-minute drive from the facility and also owns over a dozen gas stations in the region.
If naming rights ever become a major line item for youth sports complexes, it figures to be more about engendering goodwill and less about extracting pure value from the investment.
🎰 Another Youth Sports Wagering Story
On the heels of the Little League World Series issue:
An elite, but controversy-plagued, public high school near Philadelphia recently suspended its heralded boys soccer coach after he made prop bets with students on the school's basketball games.
The Philadelphia Inquirer published a fascinating look on the matter yesterday, detailing how Conestoga High officials quietly disciplined David Zimmerman, but did not fire him.
Anonymous tipsters then began bombarding both the newspaper and the state governing body about the situation, according to the report.
There is no indication the PIAA plans to intervene.
📋 Job Alert: Account Executive, Club & Youth Sports — PlayOn Sports
Another job based at the youth and high school sports giant’s Atlanta-area headquarters:
PlayOn is expanding into the fast-growing club and youth sports space, and we’re looking for a results-driven Account Executive to help us lead the charge. If you're energized by building something from the ground up and want to play a key role in opening a new market, this is your moment.
As the Account Executive for Club & Youth Sports, you’ll be responsible for developing new business in an emerging vertical. You’ll prospect and close partnerships with tournament organizers, club directors, and venue operators across the U.S., introducing them to industry-leading event management products from PlayOn. You'll own the full sales cycle, from outreach to onboarding, while helping define best practices and go-to-market strategy in a space with massive growth potential.
The full job listing can be found on LinkedIn.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
We’re new— help us build up our social media accounts by following along:
Good game.