Youth Sports On Capitol Hill: A Few Nuggets

Let’s run through a few interconnected youth sports nuggets.

Leading off: The Q3 federal lobbying disclosures are in and, as was the case in Q2, the hockey world remains quite engaged.

Black Bear Sports Group spent $90K regarding “issues related to youth sports”
The NHL spent a combined $200K on various topics, including "private investments in youth sports (and) the Let Kids Play Act”
Seattle Arena Company — tied to the Kraken — spent $40K on matters including "tracking federal legislation limiting private equity firms in youth sports"

The dollar figures are estimates rounded up to the nearest $10K; Black Bear and the NHL did spend more than in Q2, FWIW.

Among the other youth sports-related filings:

FundPlay Foundation spent $20K backing its STRONG Kids Act (SKA)
National PAL said it endorsed SKA in its filing
SFIA, American Medical Association lobbied re: Youth Sports Facilities Act
American Physical Therapy Association lobbied to support CDC work on youth sports concussions

But back to the Let Kids Play Act: The American Economic Liberties Project — which played a big role in the bill behind senior legal fellow and former FTC attorney Katherine Van Dyck — has launched a survey seeking firsthand stories "to inform oversight, legislation, enforcement, and public reporting on consolidation and rising costs in youth sports."

This is a good signal of what is coming next year.

All the various bills are on the shelf through the midterms and the lame-duck session. But they should be reintroduced after the new Congress is sworn in.

The LKPA in particular figures to get a big push. Democrats are expected to control the House and may also snag the Senate. And the bill’s most prominent sponsors should be front and center as they look to 2022.

Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) is openly flirting with a primary challenge to Sen. John Fetterman. And Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) both appear to have presidential ambitions.

Add it all up and it makes sense American Economic Liberties would be looking for fresh content to pair with the policy.

Last thing: We’ve heard there is growing optimism in some corners of the industry that Congress will finally pony up and deliver impactful federal funding for youth sports in the not-too-distant future. It’s not clear if that would be in the form of passing the bipartisan SKA or another mechanism — or if it would come during the Trump Administration or after the White House changes hands.