PE Playbook: Youth Sports Leagues Roll Up
State of Play
Just a few days ago, Sixth Street made headlines for acquiring a 10% stake in San Francisco Giants, a franchise reportedly valued at over $4 billion. This isn’t their first rodeo–since 2021, Sixth Street has acquired a stake in the NBA (San Antonio Spurs), in La Liga (FC Barcelona), and in National Women’s Soccer League (Bay FC).
But while headlines have largely focused on investments in professional leagues, private equity has quietly been rolling up youth sports leagues as well. Notably, 3STEP Sports (backed by Juggernaut Capital) manages over 1,800 youth club teams and events serving more than 1.1 million youth athletes, Unrivaled Sports (backed by The Chernin Group) manages 15 youth-sports brands reaching over 600k youth athletes, and RCX Sports (backed by The Raine Group) manages junior NFL, NBA, and NHL leagues engaging over 1 million annual participants.
History of PE-Backed Platforms & Their Strategies:
The rise of private equity-backed youth sports platforms has reshaped the industry, shifting youth sports from locally-run organizations to national, professionally managed entities. 3STEP Sports, Unrivaled Sports, and RCX Sports each embarked on different approaches to scaling youth sports through acquisitions, partnerships, and branding. These companies have ultimately created a more structured and monetized youth sports ecosystem, despite declining youth sports participation (as we will cover later).
3STEP Sports (Juggernaut): Grassroots Roll-Up Model
3STEP was founded in 2016 as an operator of sports clubs and events, eventually diversifying their revenue streams into:
Club Programs and Training Services. Manages over 1,800 club teams across various sports, providing training and development programs
Events and Tournaments. Organizes more than 2,500 events annually, including tournaments, showcases, and leagues, serving over 1.5 million athletes
Facility Management. Operates 38 multi-sport facilities across the United States, offering venues for training, events, and programming
Media Content and Production. Produces extensive media content, including recruiting databases, rankings, and game footage, utilized by mainstream media outlets such as ESPN
Since Juggernaut Capital’s acquisition in 2019, 3STEP has gone on an acquisition spree:
Their first roll-up target was lacrosse clubs.
Years before and after COVID, acquired:
3d Lacrosse, a national club bringing dozens of club teams and training clubs
Aloha Tournaments, a major lacrosse event organizer known for tournaments like Lax Splash in Maryland
Thunder Lacrosse, a prominent southeastern club program
Other lacrosse acquisitions during this time included Kings Lacrosse, Aces Lacrosse, Connecticut Wolves, and Storm Lacrosse Club
In 2021, continued on the lacrosse acquisition spree with HoganLax in Maryland, NXT Sports in Philadelphia, and Robison Sports, which owned two national girls lacrosse leagues
By 2022, 3STEP reportedly had over 350 lacrosse teams under its umbrella
Starting 2022, the company expanded into other sports through M&A.
Acquired Prospects Athletics, a New England baseball and softball organization
Acquired Sports Made Personal, a Chicago-based operator of soccer and lacrosse leagues
Acquired MOD Volleyball Club, a Illinois-based boys and girls volleyball club
Acquired Cape Ann Field Hockey Club, a Massachusetts-based girls’ field hockey club
The list goes on with over 50 acquisitions across top clubs in youth lacrosse, baseball, basketball, volleyball, football, and soccer…
In addition to acquiring the leagues and clubs, 3STEP expanded vertically through M&A.
In 2022, acquired First Scout Productions, a sports videography and athlete highlight film company
In 2023, acquired US Officials, a sports officiating and referee services provider
Unrivaled Sports (The Chernin Group): The Premium Experience & Destination Model
Officially launched in 2024 by Josh Harris (co-founder of Apollo) and David Blitzer (chairman of Blackstone Tactical Opportunities) with investment from The Chernin Group, Unrivaled Sports’ strategy revolves around premium youth sports experience at well-established venues with well-planned programming.
Even prior to the official launch, Josh Harris and David Blitzer had been acquiring stakes in prominent destinations in youth sports:
Through their family offices, the investors acquired:
Ripken Baseball – a baseball tournament organizer with facilities across Maryland, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee
Cooperstown All Star Village – a unique destination for youth baseball teams with access to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
We Are Camp – an action sports brand founded by Olympian snowboarder Shaun White
ForeverLawn Sports Complex - an entry into youth football within the heart of the NFL Hall of Fame Village
Cooperstown All Star Village was created to provide a “major league experience” for baseball players under age 12
Source: Cooperstown
Since The Chernin Group’s investment in 2024, the company has continued to expand on their premium destination portfolio through acquisitions, including
YTH Sports, known for its Soccer Youth brand and All-American Series
Under the Lights, national flag football league sponsored by Under Armour
Snobahn, indoor skiing and snowboarding sports operator
Rocker B Ranch, a 325-acre in Texas for baseball fields and resort-style amenities
RCX Sports (The Raine Group): The League Partnership Model
RCX Sports was established in 2019 as an events production company spun out of another Raine Group portfolio company Reigning Champs (which was later sold to Endeavor, another sports media platform backed by Silver Lake). Instead of acquiring grassroots organizers, RCX built exclusive partners with major pro leagues, operating their official youth sports, including:
NFL Flag Football – The official youth flag football program of the NFL, with 800,000+ annual participants
Jr. NBA / WNBA Leagues – Basketball development leagues run in partnership with the NBA
NHL Street Hockey – A grassroots hockey initiative with the NHL
MLS GO – A youth soccer program backed by Major League Soccer
Since 2019, these private equity platforms have actively rolled up both the grassroots leagues / clubs as well as official youth leagues backed by the major sports leagues. And they have become the dominant force monetizing youth athletes.
(Anti) Investment Thesis
Private equity has found opportunities in rolling up the fragmented youth sports industry. However, the sector also faces concerning trends that could impact its long-term growth trajectory.
📈 1. A Massive Market, but Declining Participation
The overall youth sports market is very large – valued at ~$30 billion in the U.S. alone, and still growing. Globally, one market research report projects youth sports market reaching $50 billion in 2024 and growing 10%+ per year.
Source: Business Research Insights
Given registration, lessons, and camps fees account for ~50% of the total youth sports spend per child, one can estimate the league / club market at ~$15 billion in the United States. However, the true addressable market for private equity remains uncertain, as the extent to which PE-backed platforms can capture the entire market is a topic of debate (as explored in the next section).
Source: Aspen Institute
And despite this financial growth, participation in leagues is on the decline. Factors like rising costs, shifting family priorities, and accessibility challenges have contributed to fewer children engaging in structured youth sports. This raises critical questions about whether future revenue growth will come from more participants—or simply from higher spending per athlete in elite, pay-to-play leagues.
Source: Sports & Fitness Industry Association
🧩 2. Fragmented industry, but how much of the market can be captured by PE?
The industry is highly fragmented, with over 1 million non-school-affiliated youth sports organizations in the U.S.. When viewed alongside the $30 billion U.S. market, this fragmentation implies an average revenue per organization of just $30,000—a figure that raises questions about how much of the market private equity can realistically consolidate.
Running the math based on US Youth Soccer, the largest youth sports organization in the country with 2.5 million annual players across 10,000 clubs and leagues, and assuming average of $450 spend per season on registrations, lessons, and camps (per the prior figure from Aspen Institute), the implied revenue per club/league is only $112,500*. While not a small sum–especially for the families paying these costs–the implied revenue per club is relatively small in the context of private equity investments.
—Footnotes:
*Calculated as 2.5 million players x $450 spend per season, divided by 10,000 clubs and leagues.
One cannot argue against the extreme fragmentation of the industry, but the question remains if the organizations, leagues, and clubs of meaningful scale have already been rolled up.
💵 3. Market for the premium experience, but is it a pricing game going forward?
Youth sports have increasingly become a premium experience, catering to families willing to invest heavily in training, travel teams, and elite competitions. The industry has capitalized on the pay-to-play model, where families with high disposable income fuel a growing segment of high-cost leagues, tournaments, and training academies. However, the sustainability of this premium-driven model raises key questions about market saturation and accessibility.
According to the Census Bureau, high income families are nearly 2-3x more likely to pay for lessons compared to low / middle income families.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
And the amount each family is willing to spend is 2-4x the amount that low and middle income families spend on their kids’ youth sports.
Source: Aspen Institute
If the path to monetization remains focused on premium leagues targeting high-income families, future revenue growth may rely more on price increases rather than participant expansion. This creates a dynamic where:
Lower-income families are pushed out, reinforcing the divide between community-based and elite-level play.
Innovation in affordability may become necessary, such as subscription-based training models, flexible payment plans, or corporate sponsorships subsidizing costs for lower-income athletes.
Looking Ahead
The consolidation efforts of 3STEP Sports, Unrivaled Sports, and RCX Sports serve as interesting case studies of private equity-driven roll-ups in the youth sports industry. While these models have driven rapid consolidation, the broader youth sports industry is facing structural headwinds, including declining participation rates and affordability challenges.
However, the premium market for high-income families remains strong, particularly in sports that emphasize long-term player development and college recruitment pathways (e.g., soccer, baseball, lacrosse, and basketball). This raises key strategic questions:
Is 3STEP’s grassroots roll-up play a one-and-done strategy? If affordability concerns limit overall participation growth, the long-term sustainability of mass consolidation could be at risk.
Will Unrivaled Sports dominate the high-end youth sports market? With premium leagues and destination experiences catering to families willing to spend, Unrivaled may have a longer runway for monetization than broader, mass-market roll-ups like 3STEP.
Beyond league roll-ups, private equity firms are actively monetizing other aspects of the youth sports ecosystem, including:
Stack Sports (Genstar Capital) – A leading provider of youth sports management software, including league scheduling, player registration, and payment processing.
PlayOn! Sports (KKR) – Specializes in live-streaming high school and youth sports events, monetizing through subscription-based access to games.
Varsity Brands (KKR) – The largest distributor of youth team sports apparel and equipment in the U.S..
These investments indicate that private equity’s influence is shaping the entire ecosystem, from technology and media to leagues, apparel, and equipment.
🏆 Private equity doesn’t discriminate based on skill level, as long as it pays to play
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