The European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation is a member of the European Commission. The portfolio was previously titled European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport until 2019 when it was merged with the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation to form its current title.
The portfolio is responsible for policies in education and training, youth, sport, civil society, and culture. The commissioner leads the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.
History of the portfolio
[edit]
Commissioner Ján Figeľ was approved by the European Parliament in 2004 as the European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism. This was enlarged since the Prodi Commission with the addition of training and multilingualism (The Directorate-General is still just Directorate-General for Education and Culture).
However, when Romania joined the European Union on 1 January 2007, responsibility for multilingualism was handed over to the new Romanian commissioner, Leonard Orban. In its place the portfolio now also includes youth, sport and civil society. Figeľ describes his position is very orientated to “the citizens and their quality of life”.[1]
The commission has become increasingly active in education. The ERASMUS programme, which was established in 1987, is a student exchange programme promoting mobility of students between European universities. The Bologna process aims to create a European Higher Education Area where academic qualifications can be recognised across Europe. The European Institute of Technology is a proposed research university.
With the 2014 inauguration of the Juncker Commission, the portfolio was once again renamed – multilingualism was removed in favour of citizenship: “Education, Culture, Youth and Citizenship”. Citizenship in turn was soon replaced by sport.[2][3] The title from 2014 to 2019 was thus European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. The portfolio from 2019 is named European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation.
List of commissioners
[edit]
The previous portfolio to the current was Culture, merged with Audiovisual policy and EP relations.
No.
Picture
Commissioner
Took office
Left office
Time in office
Party
Country
Commission
1
Reding, VivianeViviane Reding (born 1951)
13 September 1999
21 November 2004
5 years, 69 days
CSV
Luxembourg
Prodi
2
Grybauskaitė, DaliaDalia Grybauskaitė (born 1956)
1 May 2004
11 November 2004
194 days
Independent
Lithuania
Prodi
3
Figeľ, JánJán Figeľ (born 1960)
22 November 2004
1 October 2009
4 years, 313 days
KDH
Slovakia
Barroso
4
Šefčovič, MarošMaroš Šefčovič (born 1966)
1 October 2009
9 February 2010
131 days
PES
Slovakia
Barroso
5
Vassiliou, AndroullaAndroulla Vassiliou (born 1943)
9 February 2010
1 November 2014
4 years, 265 days
EDI
Cyprus
Barroso
6
Navracsics, TiborTibor Navracsics (born 1966)
1 November 2014
30 November 2019
5 years, 29 days
Fidesz
Hungary
Juncker
7
Gabriel, MariyaMariya Gabriel (born 1979)
1 December 2019
15 May 2023
3 years, 166 days
GERB
Bulgaria
Von der Leyen
8
Ivanova, IlianaIliana Ivanova (born 1975)
19 September 2023
30 November 2024
1 year, 72 days
GERB
Bulgaria
Von der Leyen
9
Zaharieva, EkaterinaEkaterina Zaharieva (born 1975)
1 December 2024
Incumbent
201 days
GERB
Bulgaria
Von der Leyen II
^Ján Figeľ European Commission
^“Background paper N° 1” (PDF). EOC EU Office. November 2014. previously named “Education, Culture, Youth and Multilingualism” (Commissioner Vassiliou) and now to be called “Education, Culture, Youth and Citizenship”. The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tibor Navracsics, had been designated by Juncker to be in charge of this portfolio
^“European Commissioner of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Tibor Navracsics”. The Orange Files. 2013. Navracsics was originally nominated to the post of Commissioner of Education, Culture, Youth and Citizenship, though European Commission President Juncker chose to divest Navracsics of the latter domain and assign him the responsibility to oversee issues related to sports instead
SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the United States.
The sport has held that title for 4 consecutive years, seeing a 45.5% increase from 2023 and a 311% increase from three years ago.
KTIV’s Gabriela Quiñones takes a swing at learning how to play pickleball.
Watch the full video above.
If you’re interested in playing pickleball visit the Siouxland Pickleball Association website and Facebook page.
For other locations across the country follow this link.
Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland’s News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app and our First Alert Weather app.
AT THIS TIME LAST YEAR. NEW THIS MORNING, MILWAUKEE CITY LEADERS OUTLINING THE NEXT STEPS FOR REDEVELOPING THE FORMER NORTHRIDGE MALL PROPERTY SITE. THAT SITE, NOW KNOWN AS GRANVILLE STATION, SITS ON 58 ACRES OF LAND READY FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT RIGHT NEAR 76TH AND BROWN DEER ROAD ON THE CITY’S NORTHWEST SIDE. 12 NEWS ZOE HENRY IS LIVE AT MILWAUKEE CITY HALL, WHERE THOSE LEADERS JUST ANNOUNCED THEIR PLANS. YEAH, THEY JUST UNVEILED THE GRANVILLE 2.0 VISION REPORT, AND IT ENTAILS THE PROGRESS THE CITY HAS MADE, AS WELL AS COMPILING COMMUNITY MEMBERS VISION ON WHAT THEY WANT TO SEE AT THE SITE. NOW, THE REPORT EXPLAINS THE CITY’S EFFORT TO LEARN ABOUT THE GRANVILLE COMMUNITY AND ITS NEEDS. AS OF RIGHT NOW, THE CITY HAS NOT DISCUSSED ANY BIDDERS. THE LOT FOR THE LOT. BUT THE CITY IS LOOKING FOR THREE KEY FACTORS A LAND USER THAT WILL BRING JOBS, LARGE CAPITAL INVESTMENT, AND LONG TERM USE. NOW, THE DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONER SAYS THE BOTTOM LINE IS THEY’RE THINKING BIG ON WHO SHOULD USE THE SPACE. SOME OF THE IDEAS THAT WE’VE HEARD, WE’VE HEARD ABOUT A RECREATIONAL FACILITY, YOU KNOW, PLACE FOR YOUTH SPORTS, WE’VE HEARD ABOUT, YOU KNOW, AN ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX, THINGS OF THAT NATURE. AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK WHEN THE COMMUNITY SAYS THINK BIG, WHAT THEY’RE SAYING IS WE WOULD LOVE PERHAPS AN AMENITY HERE THAT DOESN’T EXIST IN THIS AREA. SO, ZOIE THERE’S ANOTHER COMMUNITY LISTENING SESSION PLANNED FOR THE FIRST OF THE YEAR. YEAH. THAT’S RIGHT. SO IT’S JANUARY 21ST. THE DEPARTMENT OF CITY DEVELOPMENT SAYS SOME OF THE FEEDBACK THAT HAS BEEN HEARD IN VARIOUS DIFFERENT LISTENING SESSIONS COULD EVEN HELP DECIDE WHO ENDS UP ULTIMATELY USING THE OLD NORTHRIDGE MALL LOT.
Milwaukee outlines possible plans for former Northridge Mall site
Milwaukee city leaders have outlined plans for redeveloping the former Northridge Mall site, now called Granville Station, emphasizing community input and economic growth
Updated: 4:48 PM CST Dec 18, 2025
Editorial Standards ⓘ
Milwaukee city leaders have outlined the next steps for redeveloping the former Northridge Mall site, now known as Granville Station, located on 58 acres near 76th Street and Brown Deer Road on the city’s northwest side.City leaders just unveiled the Granville 2.0 Vision Report, which details the progress the city says it’s making on the project, as well as what community members have said in various listening sessions and what they want to see at the old Northridge Mall site.”We’ve heard about a recreational facility, you know, place for our youth sports. We’ve heard about, you know, in entertainment, complex things of that nature. And, you know, I think when the community says think big, what they’re saying is we would love perhaps an amenity here that doesn’t exist in this area,” said Lafayette Crump, commissioner of the Department of City Development.The report shows that over the last 20 years, spending has been stagnant in the Granville neighborhood, leading to more vacant commercial properties in the area. As of now, the city says it has no concrete bidders for the former Northridge Mall site, but is looking for specific criteria in a land user.”We want significant capital investment and growth to the city’s tax base. We want new momentum along the Brown Deer Road corridor. We want family-sustaining jobs. This needs to be a true community focal point that redefines the identity of the area. A strong anchor will drive demand for surrounding development,” Crump said.The Department of City Development has planned another listening session on Jan. 21. They also added that some of the things that come out of these listening sessions could go into the decision for who ends up using this vacant lot.Top Headlines Uber driver in Milwaukee says passenger chased by man with a gun12-year-old Milwaukee girl charged with abducting 4-year-old brotherAttorney: Teen ‘brutally assaulted’ at Racine County detention centerWATCH Ex-girlfriend identifies man in $10,000 Big Bend bar ATM heist
MILWAUKEE —
Milwaukee city leaders have outlined the next steps for redeveloping the former Northridge Mall site, now known as Granville Station, located on 58 acres near 76th Street and Brown Deer Road on the city’s northwest side.
City leaders just unveiled the Granville 2.0 Vision Report, which details the progress the city says it’s making on the project, as well as what community members have said in various listening sessions and what they want to see at the old Northridge Mall site.
“We’ve heard about a recreational facility, you know, place for our youth sports. We’ve heard about, you know, in entertainment, complex things of that nature. And, you know, I think when the community says think big, what they’re saying is we would love perhaps an amenity here that doesn’t exist in this area,” said Lafayette Crump, commissioner of the Department of City Development.
The report shows that over the last 20 years, spending has been stagnant in the Granville neighborhood, leading to more vacant commercial properties in the area. As of now, the city says it has no concrete bidders for the former Northridge Mall site, but is looking for specific criteria in a land user.
“We want significant capital investment and growth to the city’s tax base. We want new momentum along the Brown Deer Road corridor. We want family-sustaining jobs. This needs to be a true community focal point that redefines the identity of the area. A strong anchor will drive demand for surrounding development,” Crump said.
The Department of City Development has planned another listening session on Jan. 21. They also added that some of the things that come out of these listening sessions could go into the decision for who ends up using this vacant lot.
Top Headlines
WATCH Ex-girlfriend identifies man in $10,000 Big Bend bar ATM heist
Carter Booth, daughter of former NBA player and Nuggets GM Calvin Booth, stands 6’7″ and plays for Wisconsin in the NCAA Final Four
Penn State’s roster includes three daughters of pro athletes, while Stanford, North Carolina, USC, and Texas each have at least one
Youth volleyball tournaments regularly draw 6,000 participants at convention centers, compared to approximately 800 for basketball events
ESPN recorded its most-watched women’s college volleyball season in 2025, including a Nebraska-Kentucky match that drew 1.2 million viewers on ABC
Riley Curry (13) and Zhuri James (11) are already competing in youth volleyball, with Kevin Garnett’s daughter Kapri joining Michigan’s incoming class
Elite Athletes’ Families Gravitating Toward the Sport
As Wisconsin prepares to face Kentucky in the NCAA women’s volleyball Final Four, the roster includes Carter Booth, the 6’7″ daughter of Calvin Booth, who played 10 years in the NBA and served as GM of the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets.
“Volleyball really appealed to her. She gravitated toward it early. She never really played basketball,” Calvin Booth told Front Office Sports. “There wasn’t really a fork in the road to make a decision.”
Cari Spears, who plays at Texas, chose volleyball despite both parents playing professional basketball. Her father Marcus Spears is an ESPN NFL analyst and former Cowboys first-round pick, while her mother Aiysha Spears was a first-team All-SEC basketball player at LSU and WNBA first-round pick.
“I wish it was some intricate story, but it’s what she chose,” Marcus Spears said. His wife introduced Cari to volleyball at age five, and she committed to the sport immediately.
Penn State’s current roster features three daughters of pro athletes: Caroline and Ava Jurevicius, whose father Joe Jurevicius had a 10-year NFL career, and Alexis Ewing, daughter of NBA Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing. Tim Duncan’s daughter Sidney plays at Stanford. Jackie Taylor, daughter of late NFL safety Sean Taylor, plays for North Carolina. Willie McGinest’s daughter plays at USC.
The pipeline continues to build. Kevin Garnett’s daughter Kapri is in Michigan’s incoming signing class. Steph Curry’s daughter Riley (13) and LeBron James’s daughter Zhuri (11) are both competing in youth volleyball.
Scale of Youth Participation
Youth volleyball operates on a massive scale that many outside the sport don’t recognize. Calvin Booth described convention centers hosting over 100 courts with continuous action. “There’s games going on from 8 am till 8 pm,” he said. “The amount of girls playing the sport is probably mind-blowing if you’re not really familiar with it.”
Marcus Spears drew a direct comparison to basketball. “You can go to a convention center and see 6,000 girls playing volleyball, whereas with a basketball tournament it’s probably 800.”
Media Coverage Accelerating Growth
Television networks have significantly increased volleyball coverage in recent years. In 2023, Fox aired a Wisconsin-Nebraska game immediately following an NFL broadcast window. Nebraska also hosted a match in its football stadium that drew over 90,000 fans, which Big Ten Network televised.
This year, ESPN delivered its most-watched women’s college volleyball season on record. A Nebraska-Kentucky game on ABC drew 1.2 million viewers.
Katie George, ESPN sideline reporter and former ACC Player of the Year at Louisville, explained the network’s approach. “One of our bosses once said you have to show the game to grow the game. The more that we’ve shown volleyball, the more people across the country are falling in love with it, because it’s such an easy watch.”
George highlighted the sport’s appeal: “There’s a fast-paced nature, and you’re seeing something unbelievably athletic happen in women’s volleyball every 10 seconds. People are diving all over the floor, laying their bodies on the line.”
Looking Ahead
The combination of expanding media coverage, massive youth participation, and high-profile athlete families choosing the sport creates conditions for continued growth. The scale difference between volleyball and basketball participation at the youth level (6,000 versus 800 at comparable tournaments) suggests volleyball’s grassroots foundation may be stronger than commonly understood in the broader sports industry.
via: FOS / ESPN
YSBR provides this content on an “as is” basis without any warranties, express or implied. We do not assume responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, legality, reliability, or use of the information, including any images, videos, or licenses associated with this article. For any concerns, including copyright issues or complaints, please contact YSBR directly.
About Youth Sports Business Report
Youth Sports Business Report is the largest and most trusted source for youth sports industry news, insights, and analysis covering the $54 billion youth sports market. Trusted by over 50,000 followers including industry executives, investors, youth sports parents and sports business professionals, we are the premier destination for comprehensive youth sports business intelligence.
Our core mission: Make Youth Sports Better. As the leading authority in youth sports business reporting, we deliver unparalleled coverage of sports business trends, youth athletics, and emerging opportunities across the youth sports ecosystem.
Our expert editorial team provides authoritative, in-depth reporting on key youth sports industry verticals including:
Sports sponsorship and institutional capital (Private Equity, Venture Capital)
Youth Sports events and tournament management
NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) developments and compliance
Youth sports coaching and sports recruitment strategies
Sports technology and data analytics innovation
Youth sports facilities development and management
Sports content creation and digital media monetization
Whether you’re a sports industry executive, institutional investor, youth sports parent, coach, or sports business enthusiast, Youth Sports Business Report is your most reliable source for the actionable sports business insights you need to stay ahead of youth athletics trends and make informed decisions in the rapidly evolving youth sports landscape.
Join our growing community of 50,000+ industry leaders who depend on our trusted youth sports business analysis to drive success in the youth sports industry.
Stay connected with the pulse of the youth sports business – where industry expertise meets actionable intelligence.
Sign up for the biggest newsletter in Youth Sports – Youth Sports HQ – The best youth sports newsletter in the industry
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow Youth Sports Business Report Founder Cameron Korab on LinkedIn
Are you a brand looking to tap into the world’s most passionate fanbase… youth sports?
Introducing Play Up Partners, a leading youth sports marketing agency connecting brands with the power of youth sports. We specialize in youth sports sponsorships, partnerships, and activations that drive measurable results.
About Play Up Partners
Play Up Partners is a leading youth sports marketing agency connecting brands with the power of youth sports. We specialize in youth sports sponsorships, partnerships, and activations that drive measurable results.
Why Sponsor Youth Sports?
Youth sports represents one of the most engaged and passionate audiences in sports marketing. With over 70 million young athletes and their families participating annually, the youth sports industry offers brands unparalleled access to motivated communities with strong purchasing power and loyalty.
What Does Play Up Partners Do?
We’ve done the heavy lifting to untangle the complex youth sports landscape so our brand partners can engage with clarity, confidence, and impact. Our vetted network of accredited youth sports organizations (from local leagues to national tournaments and operators) allows us to create flexible, scalable programs that evolve with the market.
Our Approach
Every partnership we build is rooted in authenticity and value creation. We don’t just broker deals. We craft youth sports marketing strategies that:
Deliver measurable ROI for brand partners
Create meaningful experiences for athletes and families
Elevate the youth sports ecosystem
Our Vision
We’re positioning youth sports as the most desirable and effective platform in sports marketing. Our mission is simple: MAKE YOUTH SPORTS BETTER for athletes, families, organizations, and brand partners.
Common Questions About Youth Sports Marketing
Where can I sponsor youth sports?How do I activate in youth sports?What is the ROI of youth sports marketing?How much does youth sports sponsorship cost?
We have answers. Reach out to info@playuppartners.com to learn how Play Up Partners can help your brand navigate the youth sports landscape.
Youth sports organizations: Interested in partnership opportunities? Reach out to learn about our accreditation process.
Colorado Springs, Colo. and Hartford, Conn. (December 19, 2025) — USA Ultimate, the national governing body for the sport of ultimate in the United States, and 2-4-1 Sports, a global nonprofit dedicated to making sports accessible through its award-winning sport sampling, announce a formal partnership aimed at bringing the sport of ultimate to thousands of young people across diverse communities.
Under a new partnership agreement, 2-4-1 Sports will integrate ultimate into its school-based and camp programming — introducing new players to the sport and creating pathways for continued engagement through USA Ultimate’s youth membership and collaboration with local disc organizations.
USA Ultimate will provide technical guidance, curriculum support, and promotional visibility, while endorsing 2-4-1’s model as a proven framework for long-term athlete development.
“Having recently testified before Congress on the state of youth sports in this country, it was reaffirming to see bipartisan acknowledgment that access, affordability, and where sports live matter just as much as competition,” said Steve Boyle, Executive Director of 2-4-1. “Our partnerships with national governing bodies like USA Fencing and now USA Ultimate validate the boots on the ground work we are doing every day in schools and communities. We love ultimate because it is incredibly accessible. Kids can play it almost anywhere, often with minimal equipment, and the sport naturally teaches problem solving, self regulation, and conflict resolution. It is one of the best entry points for helping kids fall in love with being active and connected through sport.”
The partnership also includes collaboration with the Ultimate Foundation, USA Ultimate’s philanthropic arm, to co-develop grant opportunities and expand access for underserved youth and girls nationwide.
“This partnership embodies our mission to grow the sport of ultimate and ensure that every child has the opportunity to play,” said Kevin Erlenbach, CEO of USA Ultimate. “2-4-1’s approach to sport sampling and social-emotional learning is a natural fit for ultimate’s emphasis on inclusivity, self-officiating, and community.”
Together, the organizations will identify pilot sites, co-host events, and create training resources that combine physical literacy, play, and ultimate to help children build lifelong healthy habits.
GameChanger, a youth sports app for scorekeeping, live streaming, statistics, and team management, announces a new partnership with Pixellot to introduce a QR code-enabled, fixed-camera live streaming experience at recreational youth baseball and softball fields across the United States.
The announcement follows a successful 2025 summer pilot across 32 recreational leagues, where team followership and live stream viewership on GameChanger more than doubled compared to pre-installation levels.
The new offering builds on GameChanger’s camera-agnostic ecosystem, which supports streaming from mobile devices and integrates with third-party cameras, including GoPro and Mevo. Pixellot’s SinglePlay camera adds a permanent, automated fixed-camera option that requires no setup and is designed specifically for recreational league environments. Fans at home can watch live streams after a parent or coach activates the camera by scanning the QR code at the field; games are streamed directly into the GameChanger app.
When paired with GameChanger’s scorekeeping platform, which underpins recreational baseball and softball games nationwide, the SinglePlay camera enables automatic highlight clips and postgame content delivered directly to families and coaches. The integration also lays the foundation for future personalized athlete- and team-level experiences within the GameChanger platform.
“Being able to watch loved ones play live, even when you can’t be at the field, is no longer a luxury; it’s an expectation at every level of youth sports,” says Sameer Ahuja, President of GameChanger and Senior Vice President at DICK’S Sporting Goods. “We believe that connection matters. When young athletes know their family and friends are watching, it helps keep them engaged and playing, and that belief is what drives our team to deliver solutions that make it possible to stream every game. This offering is an exciting step forward for GameChanger, and we’re excited for the opportunity to partner with Pixellot to make high-quality live streaming more accessible for families and leagues everywhere.”
“Pixellot is proud to embark on an important new partnership with GameChanger, bringing a professional-grade – yet easy to implement and access – streaming platform to community baseball fields nationwide,” says Doron Gerstel, CEO, Pixellot. “We are committed, as a company, to AI technologies that not only empower our partners to capture more games, but bring joy to players and families as only a little league comeback or homerun can do.”
During the pilot, leagues reported immediate increases in engagement from extended families and supporters.
“Those cameras were a total game changer for our league, pun intended,” says Rocky Bond, Technology Specialist for Coeburn Little League. “Interest skyrocketed overnight. Other leagues started calling us, and my phone hasn’t stopped buzzing. We’ve heard from grandparents, aunts, uncles, and families all over the country thanking us because they could finally watch their kids play. At one point, someone grabbed my arm and said, ‘This is the coolest thing ever. I feel like I’m watching MLB, and it’s my kid.’ Having a Pixellot SinglePlay with GameChanger is incredibly valuable. It’s been phenomenal for our community.”
Today’s guest columnist is Chris Russo, CEO of Fifth Generation Sports.
In the world of sports mergers and acquisitions, 2025 was the year of youth sports. What had long been a fragmented, passion-driven corner of the sports economy became one of the most active segments for investors and strategic acquirers.
Numerous acquisitions closed across software, events, media and facility operations. Many private equity firms, some of which had never made sports-related investments, “discovered” youth sports as a scalable, high growth opportunity.
The result was a surge of deal volume, valuations and heightened competition for quality assets. But the youth sports boom was not a one-year anomaly. It’s become one of the hottest M&A categories, driven by structural factors that continue to reshape the industry:
1. Scale of the market
Youth sports is now a $40+ billion economic engine, including registration fees, equipment and uniforms, travel and lodging, and lessons and instruction, among other expenditures charted by the Aspen Institute. These products and services are targeted to approximately 27 million kids aged 6-17 who play organized sports in the U.S. The sheer size of this total addressable market (TAM) makes it an attractive sector for acquirers.
2. Extreme fragmentation across verticals
Youth sports remains extraordinarily fragmented with thousands of independent clubs, hundreds of regional tournament operators, dozens of niche software or video-analysis providers, and event companies with highly localized or sports specific reach. But beyond simple fragmentation, many of these operators are historically “mom and pop” run without standardized operations or scalable infrastructure. For private equity, this represents a double opportunity, for roll-up synergies (shared services, procurement, marketing, cross-selling, branding) and professionalization upside (opportunity to enhance margins and performance once modern systems and management discipline are introduced). Buyers recognize that even modest consolidation may create meaningful value when replicated across dozens or hundreds of locations or events.
3. Parent spending and the emergence of NIL
Youth sports spending has long been resilient as families prioritize team fees, tournament travel, private coaching and club participation over many other expenses. But in recent years, the rise of NIL has raised the stakes and accelerated this trend, helping to drive a 46% increase in average family spending on each child’s primary sport since 2019, according to the Aspen Institute. The ability for college athletes to earn name, image and likeness (NIL) income has fundamentally changed the psychology of many parents. While only a small percentage of athletes will ever play in college, a much larger percentage of families believe they might, or at minimum, believe their child has a shot at scholarship or NIL-related opportunities. This belief system—whether realistic or aspirational—has driven even greater investment in club teams and travel tournaments, showcases, personal training, recruiting platforms and video analysis.
4.Development of new products and services
The past five years have seen an explosion in new monetizable products and services that have expanded the youth-sports wallet. COVID accelerated video streaming, enabling live event subscription, remote instruction and enhanced digital recruiting. Technology and AI are now transforming performance and training, including AI-driven highlights, player tracking, advanced analytics and data aggregation, and biometric tools. These tech and software innovations have also created new recurring-revenue business models that may scale more efficiently than clubs or facilities. Some investors see this as a structural tailwind that will last for years.
5. Entrance of respected investors and buyers
Perhaps the most important accelerant in 2025 was the entry of highly credible investors—PE firms, family offices, pro-team owners and sports-focused funds—who validated the category.This process had actually begun a few years earlier in 2022 when KKR invested in PlayOn. Then in 2024 and 2025, Josh Harris and David Blitzer—owners of the Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils and other pro sports properties—publicly and aggressively entered youth sports through the creation of Unrivaled Sports.
The Harris Blitzer initiative was featured in a widely circulated New York Times article published in July, a watershed moment for the industry. The piece validated youth sports as a legitimate, investable asset class, signaled that major sports owners were now committed to the sector, and inspired a wave of new entrants (family offices, PE and institutional capital).
As the youth sports investment wave matures, investors and operators will be focused on three defining questions:
1. Are there enough scaled assets?
The biggest constraint in youth sports has always been a lack of scaled properties to sustain deal momentum. Many clubs, events and platforms are sub-$5M EBITDA businesses, and a question remains as to whether there are enough $5M+ EBITDA assets to keep institutional buyers active.
2. Will robust valuations continue?
2025 saw elevated multiples for top-tier assets, driven in part by competition from first-time PE entrants. The sustainability of valuations in 2026 may hinge on supply/demand imbalances for quality companies, platform performance and integration success of recently completed deals, and overall economic factors (e.g. interest rate trends and the cost of debt).
3. Which sectors will attract the most investment and buyer interest?
Several youth sports verticals appear best positioned for 2026 activity, including facilities, events, video streaming and software products, especially for performance and training. However, there is also the possibility that other categories (e.g., e-commerce or traditional categories such as equipment and apparel) could emerge as high growth opportunities over the next 12 months.
This much is clear. The youth sports boom of 2025 was not a temporary spike—it was the formal institutionalization of an asset class long overlooked. Structural drivers remain intact, respected investors are now committed, and an emerging ecosystem of scaled operators is taking shape. The next year will test whether the sector can keep pace, but many indicators suggest youth sports could remain one of the most dynamic and investable categories within the sports economy for years to come.
Chris Russo is CEO of Fifth Generation Sports, a boutique advisory firm focused on middle market sports transactions. He advised SportsRecruits and Big Teams on the deals listed above. Previously, Russo served as a managing director at Houlihan Lokey, and before his tenure in investment banking, he managed the NFL’s digital media group. Russo holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
The announcement follows a successful 2025 summer pilot across 32 recreational leagues, where team followership and live stream viewership on GameChanger more than doubled compared to pre-installation levels.
