⚽ Little League, Big Money: PE’s Push into Youth Sports

PE Playbook: Youth Sports Leagues Roll Up

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