This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
Before we get to it, a quick poll:
Which major youth sports registration or team management platform are you most bullish on?
Results from Monday at the bottom of the newsletter
Let’s get to it.
In the email today:
🦚 SportsEngine Is On The Market
Some big-time #consolidation could be on the way.
Versant is shopping SportsEngine, according to The Information. The report (behind a paywall) said a deal is not guaranteed, but The Wrap followed up with news that interested parties have signed NDAs to dig into the business.
An Information source "familiar with SportsEngine’s financials" estimated its valuation in the ballpark of $150-200M, but the report said Versant — the new spinoff company Comcast created for most of NBCUniversal’s cable networks and digital assets — has not yet established a price tag.
FWIW: That sounds low. SportsEngine was valued at $133M in 2014, two years before it was acquired, and the youth sports tech space has been pegged at a $10B valuation in some places.
SportsEngine says it serves over 45K youth sports organizations, over 1.3M teams and over 16M athletes. And it has a presence in major facilities like LakePoint Sports. So a sale would be a massive event for the industry.
This is probably a situation that could break either way.
On one hand … It may not make sense for a cable TV company experiencing revenue and profit dips to be in the youth sports operations business.
On the other hand … SportsEngine’s financials are not separated out in reporting, but Versant’s digital assets have seen revenues grow (note: other holdings like Fandango and GolfNow are not for sale). And the streaming component could mesh well with the company’s sports media rights ambitions.
And could multiple deals be possible if the streaming component was broken out of the management platform?
As always: If you know something you would like to share, give us a shout!
Hoo boy.
Though not terribly surprising. Having spent every day for the last 8 months communicating with people in this space, SportsEngine is the major name I hear discussed least (along with “Little League”, whose existence feels quaint at this point).
Why? It’s not a pure play. While large in this industry, it is now an appendage of an appendage of Comcast-NBC-whatever-the-hell. It appears to have gotten caught in the choppy waters surrounding the Versant spinoff that included many of NBC Universal’s brands.
These are all just my outsider observations, but if you listen to my interview with Fastbreak CEO John Stewart, or my upcoming interview with another major player in this space tomorrow, you’ll hear business leaders who are fully meshed in youth sports, with a degree of operational autonomy. I imagine this same level of strategic thought or growth mindset is not happening at Versant.
There is no real “leader” on the product, as best as I can tell. You have NBC Sports Next and Fandango President Will McIntosh, who, according to his bio, oversees a whole bunch of stuff, including Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, TeeOff, GolfNow, and SportsEngine. His last LinkedIn post was about Fandango giving kids free movie tickets.
And as we wrote here, that estimated valuation is either comically low, or SportsEngine’s growth has flattened to the point where it’s within an order of magnitude of its valuation from a decade ago.
The question is: Who are the potential buyers?
🏀 NBA Stars Invest In Youth Hoops Platform
MADE Hoops — an events operator — said it will open a state-of-the-art training center in New York next year after scoring strategic investments from LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Paolo Banchero.
James’ right-hand man Maverick Carter will also join MADE’s board. Chad Babel will remain MADE’s CEO.
The planned facility will be “focused entirely on skill development, performance training and strength and conditioning” and model elite European basketball academies, according to MADE.
MADE runs over 100 annual events like the Jordan Holiday Classic and has sponsorship deals with Gatorade and Nike. It also plans to launch a non-profit and tackle “media initiatives” with the investments.
💼 Youth Sports Transactions Wire
Cynthia Kleinbaum Milner is GameChanger’s new Chief Commercial Officer.
She has past stops at Bonobos, Walmart and MoneyLion.
"I am obsessed with GameChanger's mission and product," she said in a post on her LinkedIn page announcing the move.
"The company connects families and communities through the power of youth sports in a way that feels both innovative and deeply human. The GameChanger’s app is awesome — built with its users at the center — and it shows in the passion parents have for it."
And yes, we note the Harvard Business School tag on her LinkedIn.
🛍️ Unrivaled Sports Launches Retail Partnership
The youth sports behemoth has made Tanger its official retail shopping center partner in shared markets.
Unrivaled has Ripken Experience locations near three of Tanger’s major outlet centers — Myrtle Beach, Sevierville, Tennessee, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
The companies “will work together to offer youth athletes and their families incredible retail experiences, shopping offers, event activations, and more," Tanger CEO Stephen Yalof said on LinkedIn.
📝 Youth Sports News + Notes
A Mississippi high school football coach was personally fined $1K and received an indefinite all-sport ban after tanking his team’s final regular season game. The coach sat at least 13 players and took multiple delay of game penalties in an effort to lose the district championship and fall into a weaker state playoff bracket.
The IOC recently held events in Senegal to mark the one-year-away point for next year’s Youth Olympic Games in Dakar. It will be the first summer games (ages 15-18) held in eight years due to the pandemic.
Germany’s soccer federation said it wants to be compensated when athletes who participate in its youth development system opt to play internationally for other countries. FIFA would need to approve and regulate such a program.
The last note is largely a European phenomenon and a compensation system would largely benefit nations like England, France and Germany. But the U.S. could also be impacted — both when dual nationals choose USA Soccer and when international athletes come here for schooling.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
⭐️ Poll Results
Primary use case for video at youth sporting events
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Good game.