This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
In the email today:
🤝 Youth Sports Is The Rare Bipartisan Playing Field
An interesting take from BASE Sports Group co-founder Carrie Gamper: The safest place for brands to engage consumers without hitting political potholes may be youth sports.
Youth sports are one of the few spaces where people consistently put aside differences to rally behind something bigger than themselves. It’s not left or right ... it’s team. It’s not division, it’s development.
For brands, that means a rare opportunity: to invest in a space where the common ground is clear and powerful. Instead of being caught up in controversy, brands can be part of a unifying force — supporting families, kids, and the next generation.
In a time when aligning with culture can feel risky, youth sports offers something incredibly valuable: stability, inclusivity, and trust.
A news item along those lines: The Woodman’s Sports & Convention Center — price tag: $46.7M — opened over the weekend in Janesville, Wisconsin.
140K-square-foot venue
City owned, operated by The Sports Facilities Companies
1.5K seat permanent ice arena
250-seat multipurpose arena
26K-square-foot convention center
The Janesville Jets, a junior hockey club, are a tenant
What is noteworthy about the facility is the corporate revenue it has already generated, according to SBJ:
Woodman’s Market paid $2M for a 20-year naming rights deal
Woodman’s also donated an additional $1M
Mercyhealth paid $1.5M for arena naming rights (also 20 years)
$2M more in private donations
Smaller brand deals for the faceoff circles and blue lines
We have written a great deal about naming rights deals with facilities.
Massive corporate donations that power construction — e.g. the proposal in Kuna, Idaho — have yet to be seen. But we are seeing businesses with strong local roots begin to make moves.
Woodman’s is an employee-owned grocery store chain based in Janesville; Mercyhealth has over 80 health care facilities in the region. And they have both secured long-term exposure in a positive setting for pennies in the grand scheme.
I think this just scratches the surface— and I have an upcoming deeper dive on how brands, of all sizes, will become more deeply integrated into youth sports.
Beyond facilities, I think you’ll begin to see more local operators get brand deals in a more systematized way.
Facilities and video streamers proactively seek out sponsors. Most teams only do this in an informal way, often with a charitable component to the business. But with NIL no longer restricting NCAA eligibility, expect athletes and parents to want a piece of these naming rights and sponsorship deals, even at the 3- and 4-figure local level.
Business opportunity: Who is building the turnkey platform for businesses to white label youth club team ownership, with players serving as roving brand ambassadors in their community? Whole Foods Montco Fresh Select U14™, as an example.
🏟️ The Shopify of Youth Sports Tournaments*
There are only a handful of companies that deserve the moniker: The Shopify of [X].
That’s because it’s rare when one platform can cover all of a business’ needs in a single interface.
EventConnect is the Shopify of sports tournaments.
It’s the leading no-cost platform built specifically for organizers who juggle schedules and hotel blocks in the same breath.
registration
rostering
payments
real-time performance reports
lodging and more
Their proprietary HousingConnect tech bolts room blocking and booking straight onto checkout, delivering the best online group rates while parents still have their credit cards out.
This means up to:
30% more room night reservations
24% savings on team hotel costs
EventConnect already powers 9,000 events, taps 30,000 hotels across 800 destinations, and backs it all with class-leading customer support.
Want to join them?
*Sponsor
🏛️ Another Youth Sports Bill Re-Introduced In Congress
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin — the Democratic whip in the upper chamber — is taking another swing with the Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act.
States must adopt “when in doubt, sit it out” policy
Any youth athlete with a suspected concussion would be prohibited from competing for the remainder of the game/day
Athletes can only return to play once cleared by a healthcare professional
The NCAA and almost all major pro leagues support the bill
Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) has also introduced the bill in the House
Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) recently re-introduced a bill that would change tax law to allow parents to apply certain youth sports expenses toward the child tax credit. The bill would also create a national youth sports grant program.
Lawler also introduced legislation creating a tax credit for youth sports equipment.
Noble! But difficult to enforce.
“Any youth athlete with a suspected concussion would be prohibited from competing for the remainder of the game/day”.
Suspected does a lot of work here, and presuming no qualified medical professional to accurately diagnose a concussion at most events, who gets the say as to whether a kid has to sit out the remainder of game?
🐂 Upcoming Event: JohnWallStreet’s Youth Sports Summit
As we plan our youth sports business conference for next spring in Philly, I am excited to share that we are partnering with JohnWallStreet for their youth sports summit in NY next month.
If you would like to attend the event, you can register your interest here (spots are limited!).
JWS - which covers the intersection of sports and finance - was an inspiration of mine to start Buying Sandlot, so I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Corey and his team on this one.
⚾️ MLB Team Donates $2.5M For Youth Sports in Flood-Impacted Areas
The Houston Astros have made a seven-figure commitment to build facilities in Ingram, Texas — a city hit hard by last summer’s floods in central Texas.
3 new baseball/softball fields
2 practice fields
Batting cages
Other amenities
The team will direct and manage the project; the expectation is the complex will be ready next spring.
🤦♂️ Parents Behaving Badly
Providence, Rhode Island: A youth basketball coach attacked an official during a game. The incident was caught on camera and footage appears to show the coach holding a knife.
Surprise, Arizona: A coach and another man were arrested after fighting during a youth sports event. One of the men threatened to get a gun and retrieved a bag from his car before being stopped by bystanders.
Yulee, Florida: The former president of a local little league is accused of embezzling $94K from the organization. He allegedly spent close to $13K on personal Amazon purchases.
New Milford, Connecticut: A now-former youth football coach was arrested for allegedly knocking a 7-year-old athlete to the ground. The incident reportedly sparked an altercation between adults.
💼 Youth Sports Transactions Wire
Brett Meyer is the new VP of brand marketing for US Sports Camps.
He spent 12 years at Nike as a marketing leader; USSC is the decades-long licensed operator of Nike Sports Camps.
Meyer will "guide overall brand strategy, creative vision and digital engagement, elevating the organization’s connection with athletes, families and communities across USSC’s national sports camps network."
📋 Job Alert: Director, People and Culture -- MADE Hoops
The grassroots basketball events organization company is hiring a people and culture director/HR lead. The position will pay $90-$115K and is remote, but would preferably be located in Florida or New York.
We are seeking an experienced and passionate Director of People & Culture who will be responsible for creating the programs and processes that shape our employee experience, from talent acquisition to long-term development, ensuring that MADE Hoops is a premier destination for top talent.
This role is ideal for a strategic, hands-on HR professional who thrives in building scalable HR systems to support a unique company with a highly competitive culture. The perfect candidate will have a deep passion for developing talent and fostering a high-performance culture, with a strong background in the sports and events landscape.
A full job posting can be found on Teamwork Online. MADE general counsel Jonathan Adler discussed the position on LinkedIn.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
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Good game.