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 Golf Access Program Goes National
Dick’s Sporting Goods and Youth on Course are expanding initiatives promoting youth golf development and eliminating financial barriers to the sport.
The program began with a pilot launch at 25 Dick’s-owned Golf Galaxy stores; it will now include all current and future Golf Galaxy and Dick’s House of Sports locations.
Youth on Course members will receive:
- A free lesson from a PGA teaching professional
- Simulator rentals at $5 an hour
- Access to special in-store events
There are 110 Golf Galaxy locations nationwide and 35 open or planned House of Sport locations.
👨💻 TeamSnap Teases ‘New Standard’
The sports management platform will unveil a major new product on Nov. 18.
They’re certainly not looking to manage expectations with their announcement!
- “Meet the new standard in club and league management”
- “The software game is about to change”
- “Something big is coming”
- “A new era at TeamSnap”
- “Something entirely new”
- “A powerful, connected platform built to bring every part of youth sports together like never before”
- “The next evolution in running, managing, and growing youth sports programs everywhere”
The product will be unveiled on November 18, with TeamSnap customers receiving an exclusive look on Nov. 19 and 20 during streaming sessions with CTO Reed Shaffner, who was the co-founder and chief product officer of Mojo Sport, a coaching resource and streaming platform that TeamSnap acquired in 2023.
🎥 Pixellot, PlayOn Shift To New Business Model
The youth sports streamer and high school sports content platform have extended their existing partnership for five more years.
The extension comes amidst a new business model for the pact — what the companies are calling the industry’s first AI-as-a-Service deal.
Here’s how it’s described in the press release: Unlike traditional SaaS models, which are one-way economic exchanges, AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) enables a revenue-sharing model between aligned stakeholders. Pixellot and PlayOn are the first to deploy AIaaS in the exploding sports tech industry and are among the first to introduce it in any industry sector.
Pixellot and PlayOn will share revenues driven by Pixellot’s Agentic AI and the end-to-end features it brings to PlayOn’s MaxPreps and NFHS Network.
Pixellot CEO Doron Gerstel said the approach will “unlock unprecedented revenue opportunities” in a release.
⚽️ U.S. Soccer Foundation Partners With Salvation Army
The organizations have launched a national collaboration that will be focused on serving children in underprivileged communities.
Through this partnership, The Salvation Army will integrate U.S. Soccer Foundation resources and soccer programming into community centers, corps, and after-school initiatives nationwide. The evidence-based programs will promote teamwork, leadership, and respect, helping young people succeed both on and off the field.
This is a new partnership, as the U.S. Soccer Foundation has only previously worked with local Salvation Army chapters in the past.
