This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
Let’s get to it.
In the email today:
💰 The Impact of Brand Sponsorships
Brand sponsorships in youth sports are still a relatively new phenomenon, but TeamSnap has demonstrated the significant impact they can have amid access and affordability issues.
The management platform announced yesterday it has surpassed $20M in direct funds going back to youth sports organizations via its sponsorships engine.
“We use our leadership position to help give back to the community,” CEO Peter Frintzilas told Buying Sandlot. “One of the major levers we have to pull is the ability to connect Fortune 250, Fortune 500 brands with grassroots, local sports organizations, leagues and clubs.”
The direct funds go toward scholarships, equipment, uniforms and other challenges, Frintzilas said. TeamSnap estimates it has impacted over 17M households in the U.S. and Canada, working with over 45K orgs and 4M teams.
The platform’s impact took off when it moved beyond digital advertising and acquired LeagueSide — a community sports sponsorship firm — in 2022. Sponsorships now run the gamut — activations, digital, uniforms, signage, naming rights, etc.
Brands wanted to engage with youth sports families in a way that was “more authentic, more impactful, more grassroots,” SVP of Brand Solutions Nicole McCormack said.
There are now close to 600 national and regional brands on TeamSnap’s platform including Kraft Heinz, Progressive and Spectrum; the latter sponsors close to 500 clubs and leagues a year, McCormack said.
Frintzilas said the TeamSnap One platform will further elevate the impact of brand sponsorships — he believes youth sports streaming could become a $10B space, for example.
📆 EventConnect Exists To End Tournament Chaos— For Organizers And Families*
Tournament weekends have become mini supply chains: teams register, rosters change, schedules shift, hotels fill, and parents scramble.
Too many events still run things on spreadsheets, portals, and last-minute calls.
What we do (and why it’s different):
Centralize the weekend workflow: registration, rostering, payments, lodging, and real-time reporting.
Organizers can run end-to-end on EventConnect or integrate the systems they already use— no rip-and-replace required.
Either way, the data lands in one place so operators aren’t stitching together reports from multiple tools.
The “moment that changes outcomes”:
HousingConnect embeds hotel booking directly into checkout— capturing rooms at peak intent instead of sending families to a separate portal later.
Results can be up to 30% more room-night reservations and 24% savings on team hotel costs.
Proof of scale:
EventConnect powers 5,000 events and connects 30,000 hotels across 800 destinations.
Learn more about how EventConnect can help power your tournament right here.
*Sponsor
🏟️ The Buying Sandlot Summit Is Almost Here
We will be about to kick off Day 2 of the Buying Sandlot summit two weeks from today.
If you have not already gotten your tickets, get them now!
The full Buying Sandlot Summit agenda is now available on the event website. There are still 1-2 panels and some moderators we are working through, so please be mindful that times are subject to change slightly.
We will #seeyouinphilly very soon.
👏 A Special Shoutout
New York Empire Baseball/RISE Partners CEO Jordan Baltimore helped saved a man’s life last week at Opening Day for the Mets and Pirates.
Jordan performed CPR on an unresponsive fan having a medical emergency in his section. An ER doctor arrived soon after and coached him and two other men until EMS took over.
The fan had a low blood pressure incident and is now OK. But the situation was a reminder of how important the CPR training Jordan and so many others in youth sports go through on a regular basis. You truly never know when you will need the skills.
🏔️ Facilities Arms Race Update: Mile High Edition
A project we first mentioned last July as sounding “like the plot of a ‘South Park’ episode” is officially a go.
Officials in Douglas County, Colorado, signed off on the Zebulon Regional Sports Complex following a contentious public meeting.
The project will be built in Sterling Ranch, a Denver suburb. The county is aiming to complete the $100M first phase by 2028.
3 NHL-size hockey rinks, practice rink
8 multi-sport courts for hoops, volleyball, etc,
Sports dome with turf, removable roof
Baseball/softball fields
Fitness center, restaurants
The county said it will tap financing mechanisms for $100M without raising taxes. A developer has received a capped $65M contract for construction. The county said it could unlock up to $34M in private funding, but details “will be defined as part of the design process.”
Project opponents had expressed concerns about the project’s costs and impacts on local infrastructure, bidding to have the proposal put to a ballot referendum.
A county official had previously said the first phase’s economic impact could reach $1B, but that figure does not appear to have been mentioned recently.
The complex will be built on the site of a former dynamite plant. But the state said the land is safe after decades of remediation and testing.
⚽️ Major Soccer Moves In Baltimore
A youth sports and fitness platform in Maryland with over 20 locations is investing heavily in its soccer programs.
Coppermine announced plans to turn the abandoned Cardinal Gibbons High campus in Baltimore into a youth soccer academy, according to Baltimore Business Journal. The platform has over 1.2K athletes across 70 teams and recently moved its top side into the MLS Next Allstate Homegrown Division.
30K-square-foot building for classrooms, offices, etc.
10K-square-foot indoor training facility
Stadium with 1K capacity
3 new turf fields, 250 new parking spots
Coppermine has also launched a joint venture with Orlegi Sports, a Mexican soccer management firm that owns three professional clubs (two in Mexico, one in Spain).
The partnership gives athletes and their families "access to world-class training, global exposure, and a value-driven environment that prioritizes personal growth, education, and long-term development."
Coppermine said it will continue to operate its teams while “integrating Orlegi Sports’ sporting philosophy and global resources into player training and development.”
The partnership will also include local youth soccer initiatives to expand access.
🏒 More On Bond Sports/Sub-Zero Software Partnership
We caught up with Bond VP of Sales Andy Oelker yesterday to go deeper on the companies’ team-up for ice venues — and how complex rinks are compared to other youth sports facilities.
Oelker had some great insights above about how connecting maintenance and management unlocks operational efficiencies, which in turn opens new revenue streams, including sponsorships.
🚌 New Wrinkle To The Affordability Debate
This is probably not what Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) had in mind, but it is in his backyard.
The Bernards Township School District in central New Jersey (yes, it exists) is one of the wealthiest in the state. The district includes Bernards High and Ridge High, which both regularly contend for conference and state titles in a wide range of boys and girls sports.
But students may soon need to pay up to $200 a year to participate in school clubs or sports.
This decision comes after the proposed state budget cut the district’s funding, leading to a $6M deficit.
The participation fees would be on top of an anticipated local tax hike of about $500 per household AND plans to cut or eliminate 25-30 teaching positions.
New Jersey’s schools funding formula is wildly controversial. And things could be far worse for BTSD — a district about 40 minutes away may have to cut all sports due to a state funding-related budget disaster exacerbated by laws limiting development on protected wetlands
But these sorts of situations are happening everywhere. Like in Boston, where community leaders had to scramble to make sure a public high school baseball team had caps for its season opener as the city’s schools face a $53M hole.
So much of the affordability focus revolves around public rec and private club/travel platforms. But you could argue public school teams should be the most affordable form of youth sports available.
If that is no longer the case? It could be the blaring siren that finally catalyzes lawmakers to take real action.
📅 Arbiter Makes Another Acquisition
The K-12 athletics and activities management platform — acquired by Accel-KKR last year — has added Vertical Raise to its portfolio.
VR is a fundraising technology firm. CEO Paul Landers and its leadership and operations will remain in place. VR said it has served “tens of thousands” of teams and schools over the last five years and delivers an average of 37% more per fundraiser than competitors.
It’s the latest acquisition by Arbiter as it builds a unified solution for schools. It has also bought BigTeams, FamilyID and RSchoolToday in recent years.
🏈 Flag Football Keeps Growing
Three quick items of note:
1) The NFL formally announced its plans to support pro men’s and women’s flag leagues in partnership with TMRW Sports. The league will chip in up to $32M and a bevy of former NFL stars like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Steve Young are attached as investors. TMRW Sports is behind TGL. The leagues are set to launch alongside the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
2) The Big South Conference became the first NCAA D1 league to announce plans to sponsor women’s flag as a varsity sport. That will start with the 2027-28 academic year. The conference currently has five members with either club or varsity programs and said it expects to add new members or affiliate members.
3) The Big 12 Conference followed up with its plans to be the first Power Four/FBS league with women’s flag in 2028 after launching a partnership with the NFL last year. The Big 12 told SBJ it will have at least six teams playing in the first season (typically the minimum membership to be considered a conference by the NCAA). Arizona State, Colorado and UCF have club teams and Arizona is starting a club program.
💼 Youth Sports Transactions Wire
Ashley Whittaker is now The Sports Facilities Companies’ CMO.
The SFC partner — a scheduled speaker at the Buying Sandlot Summit — was previously the SVP for marketing.
🤦♂️ Parents Behaving Badly
A former NHL player was charged with assault after an incident following his U15 hockey team’s playoff game in the Toronto suburbs.
Mikhail Grabovski — who only had 312 penalty minutes across his 10 seasons with four teams — allegedly had a postgame altercation with the opposing coach.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
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Good game.