This is Buying Sandlot — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of youth sports.
Big send today. No time to waste.
In the email today:
🏛️ Congressmen Running Back The PLAY Act
Office of Rep. Josh Gottheimer
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) has introduced the Promoting Lifelong Activity for Youth Act, which aims to expand tax credits for youth sports parents and boost participation.
The PLAY Act is co-sponsored by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY). He and Gottheimer previously proposed the bill in 2023— Lawler proposed legislation creating a youth sports equipment tax credit earlier this year.
The bill would change current tax law and allow parents to apply certain youth sports expenses toward the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.
The bill also creates a youth sports-specific federal grant program.
The maximum dependent tax credit is currently $3K for one kid and $6K for 2+; youth sports expenses are currently not applicable to the credit
The PLAY Act would increase the thresholds to $4K and $7K, respectively
The bill would also allow up to $2K in eligible youth sports expenses toward the tax credit
Eligible expenses include equipment purchases and participation in local recreational and non-profit leagues
Expenses related to for-profit leagues and private lessons are not eligible
Federal grant program to create opportunities, remove access barriers and fund local organizations and programs
Gottheimer also criticized the Trump Administration for proposed cuts to federal funding for schools and the impact tariffs are having on youth sports equipment.
Lots going on here.
1) We touched on a similar theme in our Sports Parent Economy deep dive yesterday, but came at it from the private perspective, suggesting a youth sports-focused credit card with benefits to match. In a world where parents spend so much on sports, there is a huge opportunity to provide incentives, subsidies and rebates.
2) On tariffs: We did a deep dive when they were first announced, and tried to estimate the impact if FULLY IMPLEMENTED. Obviously, everything is happening piecemeal, but there is undeniably some impact. It’s hard to say how big of an impact. But Dick’s says that they are applying tariff-related increases “surgically” and consumers haven’t batted an eye.
3) Love the idea here overall. An investment in youth sports is an investment in health and keeps kids out of trouble— which has many positive downstream effects. A 2024 study found that hitting the federal Healthy People 2030 sports-participation goal would save about $80B and add 1.8M quality-years of life. Other studies have shown positive impacts on college attendance and mental health.
4) But why limit to rec only? A sizable % of sports participation is for-profit, even at what most would consider a “recreational level”. i9, for example. Classic left-right debate to be had here, and I understand not wanting to effectively subsidize BIG SPORTS— but we subsidize much worse in America.
🏟️ 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
👟 Perfect Game, SQAIRZ Unveil 1st Collaboration
The Limited Edition Palm Baseball Shoe pre-sale began Tuesday and will ship in mid-October.
SQAIRZ became PG’s official footwear partner earlier this year — one of several PG partnerships with various baseball equipment and drip makers. The colorway is a take on “the signature palm tree motifs of Perfect Game’s Florida roots” and will be available through the end of the year.
SQAIRZ claims independent testing shows athletes experience a 2.6 MPH increase in throwing velocity and 2.0 MPH boost in exit velocity when wearing its cleats. The cleats are also engineered for injury prevention.
OK. I’m going to Phillies Phantasy Camp in January, where I’m likely going to throw 200 pitches over the course of 3 days. That, or pitch until my arm falls off.
It will be difficult to part with my precious Jordan 1 cleats. BUT, I am buying that 2.6 MPH velo increase marketing-speak hook, line and sinker. I imagine it works on kids, too.
That’s it— that’s the take. I’m buying these for old man baseball.
🏢 SFC Adds To The Roster
The Sports Facilities Companies s now running operations for Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus in Wesley Chapel, Florida.
SFC took over in August— Wiregrass Ranch is the third venue under its umbrella in the Tampa area.
Pasco County owns the multi-sport facility, but SFC will manage booking, marketing, maintenance, staffing and all other operations.
SFC has also expanded its partnership with the Florida Premier FC soccer club as part of the deal.
🌎 The Sports Parent Economy
There are 27 million children aged 6-17 who participate in sports in America. 30-40 million sports parents. They take their kids to 50-100+ sports sessions per year. And spend an average of 3 hours per day on sports-related activities.
That means more than 1 billion parent-attendance instances and literally billions of hours spent on the sidelines.
71% of these parents say they eat out more than 2 days per week due to sports.
36% of parents say sports contribute to unhealthy eating habits.
How do you service them, and what are the business opportunities?
We covered it in our deep dive yesterday. Premium members can read it here.
💰 Big Bucks In Utah
Organizers for the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City have raised $200M in early funds that will be largely earmarked for youth sports programs and other community projects. The Podium34 initiative is already two-thirds of the way to its $300M goal after landing 9 (!) donations of $20M.
Among the deep-pocketed benefactors: The Smith family (of course), which owns the Utah Jazz and Mammoth, and the Miller family (also of course), which co-owns Real Salt Lake with Unrivaled Sports co-founder David Blitzer.
Smith previously pledged up to $10M to build ice rinks across the state and will open the Mammoth’s practice facility to youth sports.
The Millers said they would work on youth sports initiatives with Blitzer and Unrivaled when they bought the MLS team (from Smith).
And Utah is the nation’s fastest-growing state.
Lots to watch here!
🏟️ Another NFL Stadium Project Featuring Youth Sports
Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren said the mixed-use district surrounding the team’s planned Arlington Heights stadium will host youth sports events.
The Washington Commanders — owned by Unrivaled Sports co-founder Josh Harris — recently pledged $20M toward a youth sports facility as a sweetener to get City Council to sign off on their new building/multi-use district on the RFK Stadium site.
And the Denver Broncos have also announced plans to build a new downtown stadium with a mixed-use district. Their announcement did not include any mention of youth sports, but the word “community” was included several times, so there’s that.
There are 30 NFL stadiums.
Nineteen were built between 1995 and 2010, including the Broncos and Commanders (and the Tennessee Titans, who also have a new stadium/surrounding district under construction).
We are going to see a bunch of these projects proposed in the coming years, regardless of whether 30ish years is a reasonable life span for a stadium.
It looks like youth sports opportunities will be a tool that is deployed to secure whatever support — public money or otherwise — is necessary to get the job done.
You can no longer threaten to move the team to Los Angeles for leverage, and the near-guarantee that new stadium = hosting a Super Bowl is not as big a motivator as it used to be. So you need other carrots.
📰 Youth Sports News & Notes
American Youth Soccer Association and TeamSnap expanded their partnership. AYSO will make an entire season’s worth of practice plans for all age groups available on TeamSnap’s MOJO youth sports management app.The curriculum will be available for coaches at the 6U to 14U levels in over 600 regions nationwide.
Dick’s Sporting Goods has completed its Foot Locker acquisition. The combined company will operate over 3K brick-and-mortar stores in 20 countries on four continents, plus digital and e-commerce businesses. Here is Kyle’s take on the deal when it was announced.
East Carolina University will lease a sports complex to the city of Greenville to create more youth sports facilities. The city has agreed to pay $13M over the lifetime of a 50-year lease — $3M up front and then $150K-$300K annually after that.
🔦 Community Spotlight: The Fieldhouse in Northvale, NJ
The Fieldhouse in Northvale, NJ, owned by community members Angie and Matthew Alberti, is redefining what a youth sports facility can be. Opened in January 2024, the 44,000-square-foot space is a tech-driven training center and sports community hub, and home to club powerhouses like NJ Thunder Fastpitch and NJ Wildcats + thousands of athletes across recreational, club, and college programs. The speed and agility and pitching/catching center are built to use analytics to inform training approaches.
Inside the reimagined warehouse: 9 hitting cages with built in automatic videoing for training and social media uploads, 4 cages with HitTrax, ProBatter, Rapsodo, Flight Scope, BlastMotion, Proteus, Tonal, force plates, a full turf softball infield, and even a Uneekor golf simulator.
The Fieldhouse also hosts birthday parties, summer camps, clinics, recruiting services, and pro scouting events, while also championing girls’ flag football, semi-pro wrestling, and adult sports programs for athletes with special needs.
Recently named a Federal National Youth Sports Strategy Champion, The Fieldhouse leans into mindset training and positive sports parent culture, proving it’s about more than wins and losses.
As a reminder, Buying Sandlot premium community members can feature their business, product or service in an upcoming Community Spotlight. Join here.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
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Good game.