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Unrivaled Sports Hits Huge Valuation With Dick's Deal

🥎 The business of youth sports

Author

Kyle Scott
May 07, 2025

This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.

A special welcome to our new subscribers from companies like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Diamond Kinetics, Qwikcut, multiple D-Bats, Learfield, Varsity Hype, and tons of facilities, organizations, and events across the US.

Big send today.

In the email today:

🤝 Dick’s Sporting Goods Leads Unrivaled Sports’ $120M Funding Round

Unrivaled Sports’ march toward world domination rolls on.

The youth sports behemoth brings on Dick’s Sporting Goods as a strategic investor as part of a $120M funding round.

The company is now valued at over $650M following the round, according to a source familiar with the deal.

Just to put that valuation into context:

  • Unrivaled’s $650M valuation would put them in the middle of the pack of MLS teams.

  • In 2011, Unrivaled’s Joshua Harris and David Blitzer bought the Sixers for $280 million, and two years later, the New Jersey Devils for $320 million.

The game has changed.

Speaking of…

Dick's, which owns GameChanger, will be part of Unrivaled's board of directors, according to Bloomberg. The companies will explore partnerships, but this is what Unrivaled said it plans to get out of the pact:

  • Expand access to more young athletes and their families across the country by further acquiring, building and diversifying destinations and programming that deliver unrivaled experiences to girls and boys of all ages.

  • Elevate experiences by further investing in upgrading the fields of play, programming and athlete experiences from quality officiating to facilities and services that support the athlete and their fans.

  • Increase amenities across all Unrivaled Sports properties such as lodging, food and beverage, and retail to better serve guests and foster community.

Other investors involved in the round: Dynasty Equity, LionTree and Miller Sports & Entertainment -- which we discussed recently as part of the Real Salt Lake sale -- plus returning investor The Chernin Group.

My take:

Unrivaled now has an in with the nation’s largest sporting goods retailer — the partnership opens the door to almost endless synergistic possibilities.

But more importantly: Unrivaled is positioned for further aggressive growth. It is pretty clear it plans to go on a buying and building spree. And based on the quotes Chairman and CEO Andy Campion gave in a handful of interviews, that will not just mean gobbling up more baseball and softball complexes like Cooperstown All Star Village and Ripken Baseball Experiences.

Unrivaled is also focused on flag football with Unrivaled Flag, and it seems only a matter of time before it gets involved in basketball. Plus plenty of growth potential in lacrosse and soccer.

Unrivaled said its footprint is currently across 30 states with 600K participating athletes and over 2M people hosted. Those figures should only spike with this new investment.

🏨 Stay-To-Play Topic Is Hitting The Media

Let's give a nod to the Sherman Act.

One reporter in Oklahoma - Jennifer Palmer - is digging deep on "stay-to-play" policies utilized by youth sports tournament organizers— appearing on TV last week to recap her lengthy written article on the matter, which focused on the antitrust aspects of the practice and, as one does, quoted lawyers.

Then Jon Solomon, the Community Impact Director of the Aspen Institute Sports and Society, which runs Project Play, commented on the story on LinkedIn:

He wrote:

“I would love to see more studies by economists on the public value of large youth sports complexes in communities across the country. Is the investment to build these facilities actually paying off financially? I'm skeptical given what we know about publicly-funded pro sports facilities.”

The issue, of which most subscribers to this newsletter are likely aware: Traveling families are required to stay at partner hotels even if better deals or alternative accommodations -- i.e., an RV or staying with family -- exist elsewhere.

The Dallas Stars did no favors for the practice when three of their employees, tasked with organizing the organization’s youth hockey tournaments, formed a middleman company, Stay2Play LLC, to profit off the practice— leading to accusations of self-dealing and this lengthy USA Today article.

Some families are fighting back, filing lawsuits that allege stay-to-play violates federal antitrust laws. And some legal experts have argued that the policies could be illegal if trade in the market for a secondary item is restrained as a condition for a primary item.

In short, there is now a steady drumbeat of articles and posts focusing on the topic:

News on 6, last week (same reporter as Oklahoma Watch): Why Stay to Play Rules are Costing Youth Sports Families Hundreds

Aspen Institute, literally as we were writing this last week: Do these tournament policies violate antitrust law?

My take:

There are sane arguments on both sides of the issue.

Families are rightfully annoyed when denied choice, especially when cheaper lodging alternatives may exist. There are bad actors here, as evidenced by the Dallas Stars story.

However, local governments, tournament organizers, and other providers in the stack need to hit those “economic growth” estimates which help so many facilities get built.

Even without stay-to-play requirements, the sheer demand during tournament weekends would still drive up hotel prices— just like you see in college towns on game days. Local governments would continue to collect taxes and tourism assessments either way, and hotels would still capitalize on high demand. And with many new facilities being built in remote areas that require overnight stays, having rooms blocked and guaranteed is a service— not just a restriction.

But, a word of caution.

The media - generally speaking - will side with consumers 9.5 times out of 10 here. The rising costs of youth sports participation are well-documented, and any nugget which furthers that narrative will be seized upon, eventually compelling lawmakers to take action.

I spent the better part of the last 7 years in and around the sports betting industry, which experienced a dramatic boom… that is, until media outlets - first small, then large - began to take note of the quasi-predatory commercials.

What starts out as complaints among users, becomes a local news story in Oklahoma, becomes a USA Today story, becomes a 60 Minutes topic, becomes a bill.

At least, that’s how I was taught it in school.

🧠 Study: These Sports Are Best For Kids’ Brains

A new study by researchers at the University of Michigan concluded kids' brains may be best served by competing in "open-skill" sports where they have to make quick decisions. The findings were recently published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Cognitive tests were given to about 10K kids ages 9-10; they were divided into 3 groups

  • Open-skill athletes (basketball, hockey, etc.)

  • Closed-skill athletes (golf, running, etc.)

  • Non-sport hobbies (art, chess, etc.)

There were no differences in general cognitive domains when other factors were accounted for.

But open-skill athletes performed significantly better in several executive function tests such as attentional control, working memory and filtering out distractions.

The researchers concluded different parts of the brain may be better connected in the open-skill group.

🏢 Youth Sports Facilities News

Delaware, Ohio: A youth hockey organization affiliated with the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets is proposing an indoor-outdoor arena in the suburban city. It would house several rinks and also feature an outdoor amphitheater.

🏛️ White House Proposal Threatens HEADS UP Program

A critical concussion prevention program is in danger of being eliminated as part of the Trump Administration's push for major federal budget cuts.

The White House wants to eliminate the CDC umbrella agency responsible for traumatic brain injury research and its $8.25M in earmarked funds. The HEADS UP campaign, which provides concussion education for youth and high school coaches, trainers and other officials in at least 45 states, is in the crosshairs as a result. The CDC staffers responsible for running it have been on paid administrative leave since April, according to ESPN.

My take:

HEADS UP is still operating as of now and Congress could still restore the funding or shift the responsibility elsewhere in the government. Many brain injury experts are sounding the alarm about the impact these potential cuts (and others that have already happened) would have on TBI education and research on the whole, but we will stick to the HEADS UP piece.

Over 10M have utilized the program's online training offerings and many organizations and states require that as part of compliance protocols for coaches and others. So losing HEADS UP would be a very big deal, especially because there is no significant alternative for concussion education and prevention out there. It would force many organizations to completely rethink their training methods and compliance policies, and that will likely cause plenty of issues. Not to mention the kids will be less safe as a result.

Which brings us to our other thought: Do the major professional sports leagues -- specifically the NFL -- step in to fund HEADS UP or replace it, either by establishing a major platform or subsidizing programs at the state level and below? Or even teams — the Phoenix Mercury and Suns recently funded 1K concussion assessments (and other medical exams) for underprivileged local kids.

The NFL has already spent at least $100M on TBI education and research, and there is an argument to be made football participation rates will drop further if concussion awareness regresses and there are fewer safeguards in place. But on the other hand: The league, like many others is going all-in on flag football. So it may feel most kids who do not play tackle football will just slide into flag instead.

⚾️ Perfect Game SEC Adds Dana Streett

Perfect Game continues to load up its softball roster. Dana Streett, previously the softball director for Coastal TopGun Sports, has joined Perfect Game SEC to lead growth efforts for the organization’s softball tournaments and enhance experiences.

Want to reach more than 3k investors, owners, and operators in the business of youth sports? Buy an ad in Buying Sandlot right here or reach out to me directly by replying to this email.

đź“‹ Job Alert: Sponsorship Director, The Sports Facilities Company

The Sports Facilities Companies manage 30+ venues and 1500+ team members nationwide, welcoming over 25M guest visits and producing over $250M in economic impact annually. SFC is currently hiring a Sponsorship Director that will be based in Clearwater, Florida.

The Sponsorship Director is responsible for developing business and acquiring new sponsorships for the Company. Relationship development is an integral part of this role.

The full job posting can be found here. Learn more about the position on LinkedIn.

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