PE firms key in on youth sports

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In 2022, U.S. families spent $30-40B on their children’s sports activities. The actual tally could be closer to $50B now.

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Private equity firms want a piece of the pie:

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• Unrivaled Sports, founded by a pair of private equity billionaires, operates 15 venues and properties that serve 635,000 youth athletes annually, offering everything from flag football tournaments to premium summer ski camps

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• Other private equity-owned youth sports businesses include 3Step Sports (sports operator similar to Unrivaled), Score Sports (sports uniforms), TeamSnap (sports scheduling), and PlayOn Sports (sports media)

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Two of the more significant opportunities for private equity firms investing in youth sports are to 1) get kids to play sports longer and 2) get kids to play multiple sports. Doing so will increase the lifetime value of its customers and help them get more use out of their fields and facilities.