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 Latest On ESPN’s ‘Take Back Sports’ Initiative
Lyric: “They just want to play. Let’s keep the game fun. Not everyone is gonna be number one.”
The Worldwide Leader launched a Disney-backed program to expand youth sports access back in March, making a $5M investment.
The Take Back Sports initiative is tied to the Aspen Institute's Project Play’s efforts to get 63% of kids playing sports by 2030.
ESPN announced updates earlier this week:
The launch of TakeBackSports.org in collaboration with Positive Coaching Alliance
ESPN will cover registration fees and provide free access to PCA’s Parent Online Courses over the next month
An animated video campaign for the initiative was launched (see above)
$100K in Take Back Sports Innovation Challenge grants were awarded to 10 youth sports groups nationwide
ESPN and Disney Jr. will work with Every Kid Sports on a new preschool-focused initiative
That last one invites parents to apply for Every Kid Sports Pass grants. While no aggregate amount is given, the program is explained thusly:
Registrations for the grants are now open for qualifying families with kids between the ages of 3-7 from Los Angeles, Fresno, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham and New York. Please visit https://everykidsports.org/letsplaysports to review qualifications and submit an application.
The average cost for preschool sports registrations in the U.S. is estimated to be $80 per sport, per season. New data suggests that as kids grow older (between the ages of 6-18), sports will cost more than $1,000 per year, per kid, according to the Aspen Institute. Through ESPN and Disney Jr.’s collaboration with Every Kid Sports, Disney is committed to increasing access to sports programs for the next generation.
Sponsors of the program include Dick’s Sporting Goods, 76ers Youth Foundation, Washington Capitals, and Bank of America Private Bank.
Kyle’s Take:
Besides that video having a soundtrack that sounds like the love child of All-American Rejects and a Sum 41 cover band who is bookable for parties and other assorted private events, there is a clear message in there: youth sports need to be more fun, more affordable, and more varied.
This is a natural reaction to the over-professionalization of youth sports (yes, I write that line as the guy who runs the youth sports business newsletter), and one that we’ve heard repeated often— from city and school leaders, all the way to Bryce Harper and LeBron James.
The way I see it, youth sports has two broad tracks: recreation and competition.
Too often, stakeholders and, yes, the professionals reading this email struggle to make a distinction between the two.
The myriad streaming platforms, AI cameras, and training apps obfuscate the fact that youth sports are a recreational outlet, and no more, for the vast majority of participants. Travel and club culture too often permeates rec leagues, intimidating less-focused players and making the experience less enjoyable.
And before I sound too woke on the whole thing— might I remind you that there’s still a business opportunity in the rec player. They buy jerseys, use platform apps, and expand the TAM. Something ESPN and the program’s sponsors understand.
🧱 Proposed $50M Facility Near Mount Rushmore
Next up in the youth sports complex/tourism arms race: Rapid City, South Dakota, with a potential assist from Presidents Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Washington.
The city — which sits 25 miles north of Mount Rushmore — wants to build a $50M multi-sport indoor facility.
A turf field
Basketball, pickleball and volleyball courts
Located near an existing cluster of hotels, restaurants and retail locations along Interstate 90
A straight shot down US-16 to the national landmark
Rapid City has close to 4M visitors annually
An existing facility in the city has more demand than availability
The city has the land part figured out — a local company just donated a roughly 23-acre lot that will be utilized. The money part is still being sorted out.
Mayor Jason Salamun wants to earmark $5M from public funds
A new tax increment financing district has been proposed to generate funds for the project; a hotel tax, public/private partnerships and naming rights have also been mentioned
The Sports Facilities Companies did a feasibility study for the city that included plans for an outdoor complex with a projected final bill in the $75-$90M range, but the focus is on the indoor complex for now
Some key context: Sioux Falls is the state’s biggest city. Rapid City is No. 2.
Sioux Falls boasts the 500-acre Sanford Sports Complex, which hosts everything from youth sports to college games, including D1 basketball neutral site and conference tournament games and D2 NCAA championships events.
This sounds very much like an effort to replicate that success. Local reporting even mentioned the possibility of D1 hoops coming to town.
But Sioux Falls is in the eastern part of the state and is within four hours of Des Moines, Minneapolis and Omaha.
Rapid City is in the west and is far from any major city. It has an established tourism industry and existing infrastructure, though.
🏟️ Why Youth Sports Complexes Belong in Stadium Districts
Speaking of Complexes with a Capital C— friend of the ‘letter John Wall Street had a good article today on how sports entertainment real estate districts adjacent to arenas and stadiums are 9-figure investment opportunities.
In it, Jonathan Fascitelli, the Founder and Chairman of Seregh, a sports real estate development firm, and the former CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment Real Estate, talked about how youth sports complexes can be built into these districts:
“I would pair an open-air stadium with a smaller music venue, a youth sports complex, or other heavy experiential retail,” Fascitelli said. “You want to create other [regular] draws to the area.”
…
“… if you're building big enough and including youth sports complexes and/or similar amenities, you can attract families too,” Fascitelli said.
Most of the facility projects we cover tend to be located in more far-flung places, where land is cheaper and space is at less of a premium.
But just in case you thought the Youth Sports Facility Arms Race™ was a bubble about to pop… here comes Fascitelli saying how youth sports are an excellent way to offset the built-in downtime for what he calls a trillion $ market.
Ho boy, we’re just getting started.
⚾️ Managers Named For Perfect Game Dick’s All-American Classic
A pair of ex-San Diego Padres will fittingly skipper the teams this August at Petco Park.
Former All-Star Ryan Klesko will manage the East team while Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman leads the West. The game is Sunday, August 17 in San Diego.
Hoffman has never managed at any level. Klesko is a longtime youth baseball coach in Georgia and will also be part of the MLB Future Stars Game coaching staff.
Other ex-big leaguers who will coach in the game: Jose Contreras, Todd Coffey, Scott Erickson, Tom "Flash" Gordon, Mark Loretta, Charlie Manuel, Phil Nevin, Jason Phillips, Alfonso Soriano and Mo Vaughn.
The Classic is in its 22nd year and has produced more major league stars than any other All-America game according to PG.
⛹ The New Yorker On Youth Hoops Development
The prestige publication went deep this week and continued the recent debate spurred by LeBron James, Luca Doncic and others.
Reporter Jay Caspian Kang’s thesis: The cost and professionalization of youth sports, specifically basketball, boxes out athletes who come from underprivileged communities while boosting the chances of those whose parents have resources and wealth.
The piece leans on the contrast between retired professional players and their star recruit sons, with the former warily providing the latter all of the modern benefits not available to them. You can read it here.
🧪 A Technical Deep Dive Into Streaming AI Player Identification
SkillShow Owner and CEO Tom Koerick Jr. (a fellow Villanova grad, Go Cats!) penned a technical deep dive for Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) blog on how his company used machine learning to better identify players in its vast library of youth content.
While facial recognition and text detection proved challenging due to inconsistent lighting and player movement - among other variables - Amazon’s audio identification allowed the company to more reliably identify players, edit and generate clips.
After implementing this AWS powered solution, SkillShow transformed their video processing operations. The automated pipeline reduced video production time from 3 weeks to 24 hours per event, enabling faster delivery to athletes and scouts. A recent event in Chicago showcased the system’s effectiveness. The automated pipeline processed 69 clips, accurately cutting and naming 64 of them—achieving a 93% success rate. This high accuracy demonstrates the solution’s ability to handle real-world scenarios effectively. The system also proved adaptable, quickly addressing initial challenges such as color naming inconsistencies.
This is the technical deep dive I didn’t know I needed today— and a great read for anyone in the streaming or AI game.
🏢 More Youth Sports Facilities News
Davidson County, North Carolina: Plans for a 350-acre, county-owned sports complex are moving forward despite public opposition. The $65M project will include 10 soccer fields, eight baseball fields, pickleball and tennis courts and an aquatics center, among other amenities.
Chicago: The recently-opened $70M Wintrust Crossroads Sports Complex has secured $2.5 million in marketing revenue over the next five years, doubling projections. The venue is operated by The Sports Facilities Companies; it has nine pro-sized baseball/softball fields that convert to 11 full-size soccer fields or 22 multi-sport fields. A $51M indoor complex is now in the works.
Jacksonville, Illinois: Future Champions Sports Complex managed to hold a 50-team baseball tournament as scheduled by utilizing satellite facilities after the complex suffered significant storm damage. It remains unclear when the facility will be back up and running.
🔗 Youth Sports Links
📋 Job Alert: National Sales Account Executive, Unrivaled Sports
Unrivaled is seeking a sales account exec to work on its baseball and softball tournaments. The position is remote.
The National Sales Account Executive is a self-starting inside sales professional who conceptualizes and implements various sales strategies while continuing to build sound marketing infrastructures to generate sales among both our core and new consumers for our week-long and weekend Tournaments in our Baseball and Softball programming. The National Sales Account Executive will develop new customers from referrals, prospecting lists, and outbound cold calling. The National Sales Account Executive will sell tournaments for all of our locations
The position will pay $70-$100K annually. A full job description can be found on LinkedIn.
Also: The state of Delaware is looking to add a sports tourism coordinator.
If you’d like to list an open position here and reach 5,800+ youth sports professionals in a single email, email me.
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Good game.