PE firms key in on youth sports

Good morning, Nerders. It’s Friday, September 6th. In today’s newsletter, we cover:

• Youth Sports — Private equity wants a piece of the $50B youth sports industry

• Job Openings — Job openings slumped to their lowest level in 3.5 years in July

• Founder Mode — Paul Graham’s latest essay pushes back on conventional wisdom; why Founder Mode is a double-edged sword

TODAY’S STORY

In 2022, U.S. families spent $30-40B on their children’s sports activities. The actual tally could be closer to $50B now.

Private equity firms want a piece of the pie:

• Unrivaled Sports, founded by a pair of private equity billionaires, operates 15 venues and properties that serve 635,000 youth athletes annually, offering everything from flag football tournaments to premium summer ski camps

• Other private equity-owned youth sports businesses include 3Step Sports (sports operator similar to Unrivaled), Score Sports (sports uniforms), TeamSnap (sports scheduling), and PlayOn Sports (sports media)

Two of the more significant opportunities for private equity firms investing in youth sports are to 1) get kids to play sports longer and 2) get kids to play multiple sports. Doing so will increase the lifetime value of its customers and help them get more use out of their fields and facilities.

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DATA BYTES

• More job seekers said they expect job availability to decrease than increase in the next 6 months

• Not pictured, the number of job openings fell to 7.67 million in July, its lowest level since January 2021

#SHORTS

Founder Mode is a double-edged sword

@boringbusinesskieran

Founder Mode is a double-edged sword // Make sure to follow me to keep up with the latest business stories and trends #business #technolo... See more

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To read the web version of previous stories, click here

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Thanks for reading,
Kieran & Justin Ryan