Weekly News Roundup: The Biggest Headlines in the World of Youth Sports
Anwar Stetson
Youth sports business news comes from BuyingSandlot.com. Subscribe to the free newsletter here.
📺 Youth-To-Pro Volleyball League Secures Major TV Deal
Youth-to-pro league League One Volleyball, recently struck a media rights agreement with Versant, the new Comcast cable network spinoff company. The upstart league has seen investment from Unrivaled Sports co-founder David Blitzer.
USA Network will carry LOVB matches on Wednesday nights in primetime (8 p.m. ET). The network will also air playoff and championship matches. LOVB also has a deal with ESPN.
LOVB is a grassroots-up operation that runs junior volleyball clubs nationwide. The league started out as a youth volleyball business and then expanded into the professional ranks after securing $100M in private investment.
⚾️ New National Tournament Seeks to Compete with Little League World Series
Unrivaled Sports will launch the Ripken Nationals next year. The 12U event at Cooperstown All-Star Village is being billed as Ripken Baseball’s first-ever true national championship, running June 30 to July 4.
The event will also undoubtedly be viewed as Unrivaled bidding to challenge the Little League World Series’ standing as the industry’s marquee event after establishing a tournament network partnership with USSSA.
- 16-team field: teams will compete at no charge
- Unrivaled complexes will host qualifier events starting in March
- CBS Sports Network will broadcast championship games and select qualifying events
- GameChanger, owned by Unrivaled investor Dick’s Sporting Goods, will stream select games
- GameChanger will also power scores, stats and highlights
- Registration for qualifying events opens Oct. 23
An important note: This is a new event separate from the Cal Ripken events under Babe Ruth League’s banner. The Hall of Famer has a relationship with the organization independent of Ripken Baseball and Unrivaled.
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🏀 Shoot 360 Partners With US Sports Camps
Nike Basketball Camps will be going high-tech after the hoops performance tech franchise struck a deal with USSC, the swoosh’s longtime licensed camps operator.
There will be seven Nike Basketball Camps with Shoot 360 held this year at Shoot 360 locations starting in October. Additional expansion is planned for 2026.
The camps will “combine expert coaching with cutting-edge technology, including AI-driven analytics, interactive drills and live gameplay to provide a next-level training experience for athletes of all ages and skill levels.”
🗣️ A Conversation with the US Sports Camps’ Newest Marketing VP
Brett Meyer has a simple vision for US Sports Camps as its new VP of brand marketing.
“I want to grow this brand into the most trusted brand in youth sports,” he told Buying Sandlot. “Not just youth sports camps, but youth sports.”
It is a unique challenge for Meyer.
USSC, owned by Youth Enrichment Brands, is celebrating its 50th year. The platform supports camps in all 50 states, Canada and the United Kingdom and has had 200K campers this year. But many likely think of Nike Sports Camps (USSC has been the licensing partner for 30 years) or an individual college camp (i.e. Stanford tennis) before the operator behind it all.
“You are talking about a brand that has been a leader in youth sports camps for 50 years. The history and heritage goes way back,” Meyer said. “But in my estimation coming in, it’s not that well known outside of small circles of folks, and we’re really known for Nike Sports Camps and things we work with and work on.
