Dick’s Sporting Goods announced Tuesday (May 6) that it led a $120 million strategic investment in Unrivaled Sports through its corporate venture arm, DSG Ventures.

The funding round also included Dynasty Equity, LionTree, Miller Sports & Entertainment, and founding investor The Chernin Group. The Chernin Group incubated Unrivaled in early 2024 and remains its largest institutional shareholder. Dick’s now holds a minority stake in the company.

Unrivaled launched in 2024 with $40 million in early funding from The Chernin Group, alongside support from RedBird IMI and sports investors Josh Harris and David Blitzer, according to Variety. With the new $120 million raise, the company has secured $160 million in total capital to date.

Unrivaled operates youth-focused sports properties across 30 U.S. states, serving more than 600,000 athletes annually. Its portfolio includes Cooperstown All Star Village, Ripken Baseball Experiences, and Under the Lights Flag Football.

The investment will, in part, fund national programming expansion, facility upgrades and new marquee events. These include the Unrivaled Flag High School Girls Nationals and the NFL Flag Championship, both slated for the company’s ForeverLawn Sports Complex in Canton, Ohio.

Dick’s said the investment supports its broader goal to increase access to youth sports. The retailer already owns GameChanger, a youth sports streaming and analytics app expected to generate $100 million in revenue this year, Bloomberg reported.

“This investment accelerates our shared mission of creating the most accessible and inspiring youth sports experiences across the country,” said Unrivaled CEO Andy Campion.

The move reflects a broader trend in sporting goods retail: investing directly in experiential platforms to build long-term brand loyalty and engagement.

Dick’s is the largest sporting goods retailer in the U.S. by revenue and operates more than 850 stores. The Unrivaled deal expands its digital and physical footprint in the youth sports space.

For more on strategic investments and digital-first growth in consumer engagement, visit PYMNTS Intelligence.

By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer

A recent request from the Trump Administration has put high school and youth sports in jeopardy. The administration’s 2026 fiscal budget request sent to Congress proposes eliminating funding for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research and education.

While this would detrimentally impact the medical field directly, the significance lies in addressing head injuries in sports among young athletes.

“Each year, between 1.6 and 3.8 million concussions occur in the United States as a result of sports or recreational activities,” according to an article published by the National Library of Medicine. “Concussion is a type of mild traumatic brain injury.”

The proposed budget was released on Friday and includes funding cuts for traumatic brain injury research within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This would mean withdrawing the $8.25 million that was previously funding TBI research within the CDC and public education on the dangers of concussions. In addition to the money going directly to TBI research, the administration is also considering cutting $3.59 billion for CDC funding.

While this would initially impact high school and youth sports, the repercussions of this change would also cause immense problems for college athletics.

Here’s the good news: although Trump proposed this, Congress still has to approve the final budget; however, the fact that this is being considered is highly concerning. Concussions and head trauma are a considerable factor affecting all of athletics, and jeopardizing funding for that is putting young adults and youth at risk.

To further deepen the issue, cutting funding would also affect concussion-prevention programs as well as employees working in the area of head trauma research at the CDC.

Patients with brain trauma often require ongoing treatment, and eliminating funding would mean stopping services that those patients need to continue functioning in life and facilitate recovery.

For people who have experienced brain injuries, there is often no permanent solution, and this request would mean leaving someone with a lifetime problem with no help.

A concussion-prevention program called “Heads Up” is already having a significant impact. The program was created for athletic trainers, youth and high school coaches and other sports officials. The CDC workers who ran the program were put on leave, leaving the forty-five states that utilized the program empty-handed.

“A pause in federal funding would disrupt many brain injury programs throughout the country and would directly impact brain injury survivors and the healthcare professionals providing treatment and support,” Rick Willis, president and CEO of BIAA, said. “Survivors of brain injury face so many obstacles in their day-to-day life, and many require ongoing support and services. Suddenly stopping programs that many of them rely on is inexcusable, especially with no warning.”

Ultimately, this request comes with a multitude of problems that would create a domino effect of chaos for both government workers and people affected by head injuries. Research would be significantly hindered, and athletic programs across the country would suffer immensely due to the lack of resources and information the cut would cause.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Youth sports have long been a significant aspect of life in Kalamazoo, enriching both the lives of local children and the area’s economy.

In a move poised to further boost these benefits, a new youth sports facility is expected to soon begin development, after getting the approval of funding last month.

WXMI

A variety of sports activities, including volleyball, play a pivotal role in helping kids develop essential life skills. Annemarie Boarman, general manager at Next Level Sports, also known as “The Dome,” emphasizes the importance of sports in fostering interpersonal communication.

“I mean, you see kids that are really disengaged, they don’t know how to communicate as well anymore. So I feel like sports is a place where they can get back to having kind of that presence with people in person again,” Boarman said.

Brian Persky, director of business development at Discover Kalamazoo, highlights the profound economic impact of sports tourism. “Just to give you an idea, like, all of our sports tourism business that we do in a year is about a $30 million economic impact on the community. That’s about 50 to 60 events per year,” Persky explains.

The new 150,000-square-foot youth sports facility is projected to almost double that impact, reaching approximately $48 million annually.

Funding for the facility received a boost last month when a 4% tax assessment was approved by 34 hotels in Kalamazoo. This initiative is viewed positively by Erika Regner, director of sales at Delta Hotels.

WXMI

“We see a lot of sports, but we see a lot of hockey, we see a lot of skating, we see a lot of wrestling, and that’s about it. A lot of our families are traveling out of the area to go to teams or go to places to compete against teams that are from the area. And that’s just a huge loss of revenue for the city and for us,” Regner said.

Local basketball coach and alumni coordinator Donte Hudson from The Kalamazoo Promise expresses optimism about the potential benefits for local youth. “Having a facility like this would just give us the opportunity to touch more lives, reach out to more kids, and extend our reach to other areas, and not just Kalamazoo,” Hudson said.

WXMI

Hudson sees the facility as a means to create opportunities for children through sports.

“We foster relationships with them through basketball. So we want to see all of them succeed, and having a sports facility like this will just give everybody, like a hub or, you know, just that safe space to have these conversations and impact these lives,” he added.

There are currently three potential sites in consideration for the new facility, with a decision expected by early June, with the facility projected to be open by 2027.

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, Fla. — A new entertainment complex could come to the World Equestrian Center in Ocala.

Marion County leaders are reviewing plans to bring multiple sports fields, an indoor sports facility, a new restaurant, and additional hotel rooms to the property North of State Road 40.

The project is in the early development phases, but Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano is one of many now supporting the project.

“It just really touches something for everyone, depending on what sport you’re in,” said Marciano, “This is going to be a great resource for not only kids to get off the street and get active in programs, but also something for families in our community.”

The Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian concept plan shows the project would include multiple outdoor fields that could be used for baseball, football, and basketball, plus an indoor arena that could host graduation ceremonies, concerts, and ice hockey.

Marciano told Channel 9 he believes the project would fill a need in the community.

“We are considered a sports facility desert. Kids in our community, if they want to participate in tournaments, they have to travel to Gainesville or Tavares. Think of a single mom trying to make that work,” said the Mayor, “Those kids a lot of times miss out on those opportunities.

Marion county resident, Melissa Billings told Channel 9 she recalled the long days ushering her now grown kids to far away sports practices. Billings thinks the project could provide a needed alternative for kids in Marion County.

“They don’t have anywhere else to play and they’ve expanded as much as they can,” said Billings.

The project developers have asked Marion County to increase existing limits on hotel rooms from 1,350 to 1,650 rooms; and remove existing restrictions on concerts for the facility.

A spokesperson for Marion County said the project is now being reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Committee and the earliest the project would come up for a discussion in that committee is on May 19th.

As the county now considers possible impact to nearby roadways and reviews concept plans, Marciano sees the development as something that would draw visitors to the area too.

“It’s going to be a benefit to our local businesses and our tax revenue and so I really do think this is a win-win,” said the Mayor.

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SPRINGFIELD — To ensure all young people have access to equitable and robust youth sports programs, State Senator Graciela Guzmán is leading legislation that would create a commission on youth sports under the Department of Human Services. 

“All children deserve the opportunity to play in a safe, supportive environment. However, without adequate or equitable investments, many young Illinoisans do not have those opportunities,” said Guzmán (D-Chicago). “Our state needs a youth sports commission to better understand how we can make youth sports programs more equitable and accessible, so that all children – not just those in wealthy communities – can make memories that will last them a lifetime.” 

Representing a historically underserved community and families with children who have been overlooked by state investments, Guzmán is passionate about equitable investment, especially in the next generation and programs to help them develop into the best versions of themselves. One such area is youth sports, where young people develop lifelong skills of teamwork, critical thinking, and leadership—as well as forming long-lasting friendships and talent in their sport of choice. Without equal access to youth sports programs, however, many children are robbed of these formative experiences, and can struggle with developing these skills in adulthood. 

House Bill 2418, an initiative of Laureus Sport for Good USA and championed in the House by Rep. Joyce Mason, would create the Commission on Youth Sports. This commission would submit a yearly report regarding its findings, including research and recommendations for how to make youth sports in Illinois more accessible to all young people, and equitably invested in. 

“Currently, more than 70% of young people drop out of sport by the time they are 13 years old – with dropout rates being highest for girls, LGBTQ+ youth, and young people from families with lower socio-economic status,” said Ben Schornack, Director of Sport for Good Chicago at Laureus USA. “This Youth Sports Commission provides a vehicle to reform the youth sports system in Illinois, ensuring that every kid has access to youth-centered, transformative sports programs.

House Bill 2418 passed the Senate Public Health Committee on Tuesday.