As a child, I ran from one field to another for football tournaments with consecutive matches, and I woke up before the sun was ready for butt tournaments that were on a long journey on the way.
I am not alone. He has the impression that almost everyone in the United States has a link with youth sportsEither through their own children, their childhood experiences, or through brothers and sisters and other family members. In the United States, more than 27 million children – 54.6% – played organized sports, according to the most recent data from the National Children’s Health Survey, which covered the 2022 and 2023.
And investors Ranging from venture capital to investment capital has more and more paid attention to the deep connection that Americans have with sports for young people.
“If you look at the part of the portfolio and the statistics around this for parents, how much they will spend for sports for young people, it’s crazy,” Business Insider Aaron Miller, an investor of the venture capital company at the start of the VC, told Business. “For the first time, institutional investors realize that they are active as interesting to own and perhaps even to optimize.”
Miller said that the shopping market for youth sports was massive. According to the ASPEN Institute’s project project, the average family of American sports spent $ 1,016 on the main sport of their child in 2024.
Miller said the United States is really the only country in the world with this level of spending for sports for young people, which makes him attractive for investments. He said investments had increased in two areas: experiences and technology.
Some of the new space technologies use AI, as GamechangerLive and game management software that youth teams use to keep track of statistics and films, and assembled the protruding facts.
Unparalleled sports are an example of a business paying money in experiences. Josh Harris, the owner of the Washington commanders and co-founder of Apollo Global Management, as well as David Blitzer of Blackstone, co-investing their own money to launch the business this year. Unparalleled sports are special in the creation of unique experiences for children who play baseball, football, football and action sports and have also recently obtained an additional $ 120 million investment, led by Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Miller’s company itself has invested in several sports companies for young people, such as Youth Inc., a media and trade company founded by former NFLER Greg Olsen, and Aktivate, a sports technology platform for schools from kindergarten to 12th year.
Last year, certain noticeable offers in space include KKR acquire university brands, and Playon (supported by KKR) buying maxpreps at CBS Sports. Teamsnap acquired Mojo, a sports streaming service for young people, in 2023.
Investing in sports for young people can also benefit the leagues. Initiatives like the NBA Junior or LOVB Youth programs help develop the game at a young level.
“If you win a child in college, they are very influenced, they could be loyal customers for the next 50 years,” said Miller.
Does money prevent children from being children?
The concerns about the professionalization of sports for young people have increased in recent years, some parents concerned about exhaustion or overuse injuries that occur at a younger age. As part of its project research project, the Aspen Institute noted that some parents felt pressure for their children to specialize in a sport at an early age.
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The costs have also increased. The Aspen Institute reported a 46% increase in the cost of the main sports of a child from 2019 to 2024. The study revealed that spending on travel and housing, team registration fees and camps or private training contributed to the increase.
Melissa Jacobs is a journalist and creator of The Good Game Subk, who focuses on the word of youth sports for parents. She said that tournaments and experiences of the destination of young sports have proliferated.
She said that parents’ reception boxes can be “flooded with e-mails saying Huntington Beach, come to Omaha, come to Florida for each sport.”
“This makes the gap of grogux equity, and it also moves experience,” she said.
Miller said that there was a system to make sure that sports for young people are not too optimized as more money flows into space. Companies can offer services that can be excellent for the development of talents and earn more money. But this professionalization could negatively affect children who play who do not want to take things too seriously.
“Sports for young people are really expensive, and I think a lot of people have spoken, what is the breakdown?” Said Miller. “Do many of these really expensive camps ask families to spend as much as possible? Yes. At the same time, I have the impression that there are a lot of really great products and solutions that have not yet been built.”