October 17, 2025 • 38 mins
Join hosts Michael Barr, Damian Sassower and Vanessa Perdomo for a look at some of the latest headlines and stories in the business of sports.
On this episode, hear from:
- Bloomberg's Sri Taylor on President Trump's comments that he could seek to move the 2026 FIFA World Cup games out of Boston and shift the 2028 Olympics from Los Angeles if he thought those cities weren't properly prepared or if conditions weren't safe.
- Bloomberg News global business of sports reporter Ira Boudway on his recent Bloomberg Businessweek piece on Dick's Sporting Goods recent success relatively to its competition driven by spending on youth sports
- Peter Frintzilas, the CEO of TeamSnap, a leading management platform for youth sports and coaches, on his company and private equity's push into the space
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Business of Sports.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Sports are the greatest unscripted show owner.
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ever happened to go.
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Racing is unique because there is absolutely no reason why
we can't compete with the guys.
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Real, are people really going to tune into this?
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you're going to be really, really good.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (00:39):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports for week, explore
the big money issues in the world of sports.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I'm Michael Barr, I'm Damian Sassauer.
Speaker 6 (00:46):
And I'm Benesa Prodromo.
Speaker 5 (00:47):
Coming up, we'll talk youth sports and the sports tech
platform that supports over twenty five million coaches, players, parents
and administrators across the country.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
We'll also get under the hood Dick's boarding goods and
figure out what is exactly driving its success relative to
its competitors.
Speaker 5 (01:05):
Hmmm, all that is on the way. But first, President
Donald Trump is wanting some cities that he could take
some major international sports events away from them.
Speaker 7 (01:14):
Ataway House of an earlier this week, the President told
reporters that he would consider moving the twenty twenty six
FIFA World Cup out of Boston and shift the twenty
twenty eight Olympics from Los Angeles if he thought the
cities weren't properly prepared or if conditions were unsafe.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
Here's the president on that issue.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
If somebody is doing a bad job, and if I
feel there's unsafe conditions, I would call Johnny, the head
of FIFA, who's phenomenal, and I would say, let's move
it to another location.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
And he would do that.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
He would love to do it, but he'd do it
very easily. He'd do it, and this is the right
time to do it. If I thought Boston was doing
something that was going to be cause safety conditions for
the World Cup, I could say the same thing for
the Olympics, because you know we have events center in
different locations. For the Olympics, it's based in la If
(02:03):
I thought La was not going to be prepared properly.
I would move it to another location if I had to.
Speaker 5 (02:09):
For more on this and what having these events mean
to places like Boston and Los Angeles, we welcome Bloomberg
see Taylor who has done reporting on this straight. Welcome
to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
Thanks for having me back this to.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Start from the beginning, Can he take away the games?
Speaker 8 (02:28):
It's not feasible, Like operationally, it's nearly impossible. I'm not
going to say anything's impossible, but it's like this has
been in the works for several years. You know, there
are a bunch of contracts involved there, international contracts. It
would seem like I know him and Jihnny Infantina, the
FIFA president, are very chummy. So maybe he could kind
(02:53):
of work that and get the FIFA president to move
it if he if he desired. But the president himself,
as far as we know, cannot move it.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
It's just too far along.
Speaker 7 (03:07):
So one of the things that struck me about the
comments was that he said he also could move the
LA Olympics, you know, if he so desired. But also
it was bypassing the fact that LA also has World
Cup games, right, So what is he do you think,
you know, thinks there's something that's going to change the
next three years that LA wouldn't be ready to host
(03:29):
the Olympics, but they're fine to host the World Cup
next year.
Speaker 8 (03:32):
I think that he is just kind of going for
anything he can when it comes to these Blue cities.
You know, this isn't the first time he's targeted Boston
or LA or or you know, Newsom or Boston or
Michelle wou So he has been trying to crack down
(03:53):
in any way he can on them not complying with
his mandates that he's brought up, you know, whether it's
about Emma cration or or you know, just general crime
or anything. He's kind of he's kind of gotten some
friction with them from anyone who's kind of standing in
his way. So it's kind of, you know, to be
seen like can he actually do it? We don't think
(04:16):
so as far as I know, you know, and the
people that I've spoken to have been like, well, this
is just too far along, like you said, Yeah, LA
is also hosting the World Cup Games and has been
also gearing up for the twenty twenty eight Olympics, which
takes years and years and years of preparation. There are
nations involved, like across the globe, So it's not just
(04:37):
about the US, and it's not just about what Trump wants.
Everyone kind of has a stake in this, specifically when
it comes to the Olympics. So you know, it's just
a little too far along. It would it would take,
it would take a lot of effort to really truly
peel it back. He can't just simply be like, well,
let's just move it somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Well, I mean, I mean three, I take your point
on the operational infeasibility of moving an event such as this.
They take that. You know, that's rit But I think,
you know, we have to take a step back and
look at what he's what he's arguing. He's saying that
conditions are unsafe. So in the case of Los Angeles
with the Olympics, for example, he's saying that Newsom can't
protect them from wildfires. My point is, if the president
fears for the safety of I don't know, the citizens
(05:19):
of Boston, I mean, can't can he legally just stop it?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Can't he do that?
Speaker 8 (05:25):
Of course he can, you know, he can propose it, right,
but Trump can basically say he's going to do anything right,
you know, I guess with the transit projects, like for example,
with congestion pricing, he said, I'm gonna stop that, and
you know, you know he was sued. Like the courts
got together and like, actually, no, we're gonna block this
from happening. So there is intervention that will likely take place,
(05:50):
and not just from you know, these cities who are
being impacted, but probably the nations who, like I said,
have a stake in this, have a financial stake in this,
have already put a lot of money towards that are
already preparing to come here for the game. So it's
just not feasible. Is it legal? That's still kind of
up for debate.
Speaker 7 (06:11):
FIFA put out a statement that was this blanket statement
that said essentially, the US government and safety concern they
are basically in charge of safety and they have the
right to do this, but shree, tell me, like what
you think on that?
Speaker 5 (06:25):
Is it?
Speaker 7 (06:25):
More so they're like, listen, we know it's not going
to happen, so we'd rather just not make an enemy
out of Trump.
Speaker 6 (06:31):
I think that is the situation.
Speaker 8 (06:33):
I think that's been the situation for a lot of
entities and politicians and cities and states that have been
targeted by Trump on just virtually anything. I think that
the current stance that a lot of these folks are
taking is like, yeah, like you said, I they don't
even know if this is because this is kind of unprecedented,
(06:55):
Like they don't even know if this is a possibility,
or how this would go, how long it would take.
You know, they know what's at stake, but it's so
far along that it's extremely unrealistic that he can snap
a finger and it'll all go go away.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
Well, I see, that's the thing. You have so many
governing bodies, and you have very strong governing bodies, Which
brings me to the point. If you are a supporter
in Boston and you just heard the President say that,
you're thinking, hey man, we got a lot of coin
going into this. How much money is Boston expected to
(07:31):
make with the World Cup?
Speaker 8 (07:33):
So Boston itself is expecting to get a one point
one billion economic you know, wind fall from this. So
it's an I think La with the Olympics, not even
the World Cup, but with the Olympics. I think La
as a city is expecting about eighteen billion up to
eighteen billion from some projections that I've seen. So there's
(07:54):
a lot of you know, money on the table here
that they're like, Okay, we're putting in all of this effort.
This is going to be our return on investment. And
you know that kind of benefits these regents, even even
if temporarily, like it's creating jobs and and you know,
the hotel sector and and you know, the hospitality sector
(08:15):
is going to.
Speaker 6 (08:15):
See like a big boost.
Speaker 8 (08:18):
And I just don't think that not only is it
not feasible to kind of just do it overnight, but
it is detrimental to the cities. So I think that
Trump is trying to scare blue cities in their leaders,
which he kind of has been doing. Boston has been
(08:41):
you know, kind of a punching bag for I mean,
this whole year when it comes to just like a
swath of his policies. So I'm not surprised that he
has targeted Boston in this in this situation, I'm sure
if you know, he's targeted Chicago, and he's and he's
targeted Portland. If we're trying to see a pattern here,
(09:02):
it's all blue cities in blue states where he's like,
you know you don't agree with me, you're not complying.
I'm going to find a way to hit you where
it hurts. If he can actually do that in time
and derail something that's happening in mere months, I would
be very, very surprised if he was able to really
(09:26):
get this off.
Speaker 6 (09:27):
Course, what would have to happen very soon exactly.
Speaker 7 (09:29):
And we have yet to see a city step up
and be like, hey, we're ready, So let's play a
game here and see who would actually like is it
the matter of any one basically with an NFL stadium
could step up and.
Speaker 6 (09:43):
Be like, hey, we're ready.
Speaker 8 (09:48):
Well, in all fairness, these these cities kind of put
in their bid when Biden, when the Biden administration was
still in the White House, so you know, this has
been long before.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
So I do think that.
Speaker 8 (10:03):
You know, in the cities defense, it takes a very
long time to prep they're not ready yet, which you
and I have talked about, like they're still not ready.
When they will be ready is another conversation. But I
don't think that any other city has been, like, has
gotten the funding and has really been, you know, prepping
(10:25):
to do this in the same way. Maybe maybe you know,
a city that hosts the Super Bowl often. I mean,
but you know, Vegas, Vegas, that would be fun.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Gus.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Look, I mean you make a great point sary in
that preparation is everything. The amount of money that's already
be invested to get these cities game ready, I mean
it's it's I mean, it's a lot of money ready.
We're talking tens if not you know, more millions of dollars.
And so look at what the federal government is just
into the city of New York, you know, with holding
funds for the trans big transfer project. That's eighteen billion,
I mean right there. So it's not like we can
(10:58):
discount that this can't happen.
Speaker 8 (11:00):
If Trump is successful in moving the you know, World
Cup games, I don't think that they would happen on time.
I don't think people have already bought tickets. Like, it's
not even about the cities and then the you know,
nations across the globe that have that have a financial
stake in this. But it's also people have prepared their
own pockets. The fans are also kind of you know,
setting themselves up to be like, oh, I'm you know,
(11:21):
I'm gonna follow my team or I'm planning on being
in Seattle or you know, so on and so forth.
So it has already trickled down to the fans, So
that's not gonna go overwhel either. And to your point
about Trump and how he's kind of, you know, set
out to pause these transit you know projects in Chicago
(11:41):
and in New York. You know he can withhold the
funding for sure, But what I've heard in my reporting
on that.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
Is that a lot of these projects.
Speaker 8 (11:54):
When Trump was coming into office, they were like, we're
gonna try to really hit the ground running, get funding
to get us further along so that Trump can't do
what he's trying to do now like they have enough
or they say for the next few years, right, They're like,
we have enough financial runway that it's going to be
(12:14):
too late for him to step in and be like
never mind.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
So that's what that's kind of the posturing.
Speaker 8 (12:21):
I think with a lot of these with New York
specifically and also Chicago, and I think that's the same
situation here.
Speaker 6 (12:28):
There's just too much.
Speaker 8 (12:29):
They're too far along to where it would just not
be operationally feasible.
Speaker 6 (12:37):
Are thanks to Bloomberg Tree Taylor for joining us coming up.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
On the show, we turn to what Dick Sporting Goods
is doing.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Right for Damien Sasaur and Vanessa Bernomo. I'm Michael Barr.
You are listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports Bloomberg
Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (13:03):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports when we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
I'm Michael Barr, I'm Damian Sasauer, and I'm n Esa Promo.
Dick Sporting Goods is doing something right. They've added a
ton of stories at a time where online shopping is
dominating sales, and a lot of it has to do
with parent spending money on kids sports.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Bloomberg News Global Business of Sports reporter Ira Budway has
a new Bloomberg Business Week feature that takes a closer
look at what's going right with Dick's Sporting Goods, and
he is here now to talk to us about it. Iira,
welcome back to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
You wrote an article, a great essay, the secret to
Dick's Sporting Goods thirteen billion dollar boom. Well, what's the secret?
Speaker 3 (13:50):
This secret is people like me spending more money than
they should because their kids play sports and they are
constantly at Dick's and it's it's a great it's a
you know. The reason I wrote this was because I
have this. I wouldn't say love hate, but it's like
I can't get away from the store. But I kind
of like it, you know, I enjoy myself. And but
(14:12):
you look back and you look back at my own
spending there, because it's all tracked by their loyalty app,
and it's like, oh, I've spent like three grand in
the last two or three years on a whole bunch
of things there. You know, it just adds up past.
Speaker 7 (14:24):
It's so interesting because I think one of the other
things that you had mentioned was in this this world
of online spending, people are still going into the Dick's
sporting good stores.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
Why do people go in person?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Yeah, I mean, I think a big part of their
success is that they sell stuff that you want to
touch it before you buy it. Now, other sporting good
chains have died, so they've done other things.
Speaker 6 (14:46):
All I used to spend my whole life there.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
So it's not like they just fell into this. But
I think part of the reason they've been able to
find this formula is that people want to feel a
glove before they buy it. They want to feel cleats
on their feet before they buy them, and it's it's
a little bit more immune to online commerce than like
a T shirt or other things where you just order
(15:10):
in three sizes and send the two back kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Well, Ira, let's put some numbers around just exactly the
scale of Dicks starting out in Binghamton. But I mean,
now it's got what seven hundred and twenty stores. Annual
sales have doubled to thirteen billions since twenty nineteen, profits
have tripled over the period, and they just announced their
intention to purchase foot Locker. So I mean for me,
I mean, like, where's all the money coming from? Is
(15:33):
it really coming from justice, what's the demographic? Like, what's
their sweet spot? Who are they catering to.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
They have done a good job of hitting like the
middle to upper middle class customer who has been very resilient.
So if you look at the brands that they carry,
you know, it's on running, it's Nike, it's Yetti coolers,
it's stuff that is not on the cheap end of
what they offer. They have a house brand that kind
of so that they can hit that customer. And Ed Stack,
(16:01):
their longtime CEO, the son of Dick Stack, the founder,
he said, look, we we want to serve that customer
who's at the middle to lower middle, but really our
core is the upper middle demographic.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Well, I think what was so interesting was, I mean
you met with the son of the founder, son of
Dick Stack. And in the early days when they were deciding,
I mean, get this one, when they were deciding where
to build a Dicks, they look for best buys Is
that right? And like, I don't think all the beauty,
but they looked for like where the foot traffic was there,
and then they went around the town. Is that right
(16:35):
to look for like people building play sets or building
pools or something. I mean, is that right?
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:40):
He said. It was two things. They started with where's
where's the best buy, because that's just like a good
proxy for like, of course they've done their homework right,
And then they would drive around the neighborhood where there
was the best buy and just look for swing sets
and yards. Brilliant because that was a sign of kids
and they know that families are just so key business.
So that's they know that. Like when I told him
(17:01):
how old my kids were, I have an eleven year
old and a thirteen year old. They both play a
lot of sports. He was like, well, we love families
that age because you're going to be doing this for
a long time, you know. And he knows he's had
he had five kids who all played sports. He's kind
of done with that part of his life. But he
knew exactly you know how he.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Well, well, I mean, Michael Barr knows this. You know,
we're in the world of finance here, and you know,
if you look back into the early days of mortgage
backed securities and things like that, you know, you'll ask
people at Black Rock and Morgan Stanley and they'll tell
you the truth. They used to travel around town and
be like, oh, this person's building an extension on his house.
Speaker 5 (17:32):
They're going to.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Prepay on their mortgage. Let's buy these bonds, right, So
I mean it works. I mean, come on, Michael Barr, Well,
the philosophy works well. And this is something else I
didn't know, yes, because I'm stupid, because you know, I
didn't realize this. The Dick's House of sports stores. They're
double the size of those standard locations. I didn't even
(17:54):
realize there was a sports store, so the same, Yeah,
well what is that?
Speaker 3 (17:59):
This is a new con they have started to They
describe it as sort of disrupting their own business. They
tried to build a store that was better than what
they had, and they've done about twenty of them. And
so I went down to the one near Pittsburgh near
their headquarters where they've bought. They used the shell of
an old seers so it's more than one hundred thousand
square feet, and what they've done is they've added rock
(18:20):
climbing walls, there's a turf field outside, there's batting cages,
there's places to putt and rip open packs of cards,
and so they're basically leaning into the experiential part of this,
and I think it's pretty clever because in my experience,
a lot of the times, like my kids want to
go there, and you see other like middle schoolers, they're
just horsing around with stuff, and I'm sure that for
(18:41):
like store managers, it's a headache, but they're trying to
turn that bug into a feature.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
They know that they can pull people in with all
this stuff for the kids to do, and while the
kids are doing that. I'm walking around looking at you know,
maybe a pair of running shoes attempting me. So it's
a pretty clever strategy.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
I saw one the other day had the turf field
on the outside, and I was busy.
Speaker 7 (19:02):
I was so confused, and I was like, did they
just put a ransom like soccer field on this?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Do you remember the McDonald's, the McDonald's that used to
have a hole.
Speaker 7 (19:10):
Well that was the best, but like, I mean those
were the best, but like the turf field, like, they
don't have like games and stuff there, do they.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It's interesting how they program it. They will invite like
leagues and camps to come. But they said that that
in this one outside Pittsburgh, people have learned the schedule
and there's free play time and people will just show
up and play, you know, touch football or soccer or
use the track. If you're looking to buy a bicycle
from them, they will bring you up and put you
(19:38):
on the track and you can ride it around there.
So they found a lot of ways to use it
and customers have already kind of discovered it and it's
bringing people there just just to play.
Speaker 6 (19:49):
Yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker 7 (19:50):
And I think the other thing that we really need
to know here is like last year, parents spent more
than forty billion dollars on their kids in U sports, right,
And it's an increase from forty six percent since twenty nineteen.
But that can't just be like pandemic spending, right, Like
why such a big increase do.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
You think it is? Yeah, I mean this is a
booming industry, and it's interesting because I think some of
it is driven by it's been kind of professionalized and
there's like a kind of luxury aspect to it. In
baseball in particular, there's all this stuff now that the
bats costs more. You have sliding mits, you have heart shirts,
you have all this extra equipment elbow guards that I
(20:27):
never had as a kid. And so the sort of
baseline cost and then what you can spend if you
want to go for the deluxe is both have gone
up a lot.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Well, I'd be curious to know what percentage golf is
of total revenue because I'm sure with you know, golf
has become super popular since the pandemic, and they they
have become with their in house simulators and everything. I mean,
they fit for god, I mean, they become a go
to for a lot of golfers out there, so I'm
sure that's helped as well. But you know, before we
lose you here, Ira, talk to us about Game Changer.
(20:56):
You know what is game Changer? I mean, you know,
we heard about Dick's you know, investment in our rival,
the youth sports conglomerate, you know, Blitzer, Harris and all
that stuff, Like what else are they doing to approach
that youth sports segment?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
So they are basically trying to create as many ways
of interacting with sports parents and with young athletes as
they can. They know that it's a big part of
what comes into their store and who their core customer is.
So several years ago they bought game Changer, which started
out as this app that lets you basically score a
baseball game on your phone, so if you're doing a
youth baseball game, you don't need an old score book.
(21:30):
But it's grown into something where you can watch the game.
You can you know, hang your phone behind the backstop
and then Grandma at home can watch the kid's game,
and all these other features that you know, registering for tournaments,
keeping track of rosters and so on. So dick S
bought that and it allows them to sync it up
with their loyalty program for instance, and they can when
(21:51):
you open Game Changer, they can try to sell you
the bat that they know you're gonna need. And they
told me that, you know, the person who has both
their loyalty score card app and Game Changer spends twice
as much as the person who just has the loyalty apps.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
And they can their movements, right, like if they have
a game and you know, yeah, I don't know. You know,
a bunch of kids have a travel game. You know,
you're going to Delaware for the weekend. You know, like
there's a Dicks down there, like, hey, we know you're
gonna maybe need some extra balls or extra batting gloves
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Right, or a hotel or hotel kinds of options, right.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And so between Game Changer and Unrivaled, which runs leagues
and camps, they kind of can watch the whole journey
and have a lot of ways to you know, target
customers and sell to them and keep in touch.
Speaker 5 (22:37):
It's those products that I don't think about that Dick
sells that really are important. I mean coolers, and you know,
for example, it's like, Okay, you're watching your kid play
blah blah blah blah blah blah, and you've got to
bring in a cooler because you have some so you.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Don't want to heah, you don't want to carry a
can of beer and everybody right, you know, you know
the track.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Oh yeah, the products that they sell, it's a lot. Now.
Last time I went to by the Way a message
the Dicks sell more bowling equipment because I went to
Dick's one time and they said, no, We're doing a
new zillion more bowling equipment and I'm like, oh, right,
so but they have really done one whale of a
(23:23):
job ira in cornering the market, and I have to
salute them on that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
I mean they are the standout in not just like
sporting goods, but in big box retail. They're one of
the main standouts of the last ten to fifteen years.
Speaker 7 (23:37):
I think the interesting thing to me in your piece was,
and you said it about baseball and like that wall
of baseball gloves all being different colors, all the things,
and people spending all this different money. But there was
also this problem that we thought for a long time
that kids weren't getting into baseball, they didn't like it,
or does it just not follow into fandom of the MLB,
or is it like new people like a jazz to
(24:00):
some who wears like bright colored stuff that is really
changing that for them.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Yeah, it's sort of like it's a social media phenomenon.
I think in pan of bananas are a big part
of it. But and I just think there may also
be a I think there's a bit of a baseball
revival on now if you just look at the interest
in these playoffs. But certainly in my experience, like the
amount of drip that these kids bring with them to
a baseball game is different from when I was a kid,
(24:27):
So it's thriving in that regard.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Well, I'll tell you this, you know, with my children
now being a bit older than you and on the
other side of this equation, you know, when I drive by,
you know, the Dixon White Plains, New York, I actually
get a little bit of a tear in my eye
because I don't go in there near as much as
I used to. I mean, I used to live in
that place. But you know, I'm glad you still get
to go.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Yeah, I think it's winding down for me a little
bit already, just in terms of the amount of time
where the kids are like, can we just go there
to buy you know there. My kids are middle schoolers now,
so that's like, maybe not as but it still happens.
I still get those requests just go hang out at Dick.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
You keep telling you, I wood Way you are goal.
Thank you so much, sir for joining us on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports. We appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Always a pleasure.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Up next, we turn to another company doing well in
the growing business of youth sports for damiens Assauer and
Vanessa Perdomo. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (25:49):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,
where we explore the big money issues in the world
of sports.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
I'm Michael Barr, I'm Damian Sasher, and I'm Vanessa Pronemo.
Speaker 5 (25:59):
Team is home to the largest online community for youth sports.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
It's a sports management platform. Michael Barr with an audience
of more than twenty five million youth sports coaches, administrators,
players and parents, and over nineteen thousand sports organizations.
Speaker 7 (26:15):
Joining us now to talk about the platform and how
youth sports is growing as an industry.
Speaker 6 (26:19):
Is Team Snap CEO Peter Francillis.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
Peter, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 9 (26:25):
Thanks for having me excited to be here.
Speaker 5 (26:27):
You are the CEO of Team Snap. What is that so?
Speaker 9 (26:32):
Team Snap is the leading technology platform for youth sports.
We are in the pockets and hands of over twenty
five million coaches, players, parents, administrators. We've got nearly twenty
thousand clubs and leagues that use us to help organize
their operations. And so think about us as the connective
(26:52):
technology platform for everything from registrations, scheduling, rostering and financial
management on the club and league side. Through you know
how parents and coaches communicate each other with each other
through the largest mobile platform in youth sports. And that's
the day in and day out, very busy families, and
we are laser focused on trying to solve a lot
(27:12):
of that chaos and using technology to make youth sports
families lives easier.
Speaker 7 (27:16):
I could imagine that is an extremely helpful business. You know,
I played sports my whole life. I can imagine my
parents would have really loved having something like this when
I was younger. So, Peter, can you tell us more
about how you know this was started and really just
the innovation of youth sports, because there's so much innovation
and technology that's going into youth sports right now.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
I mean it's a completely different ball game.
Speaker 9 (27:35):
Yeah, Look, this is a massive market. I'm sure we're
going to get into discussion around the size and scale,
and technology is a driving factor and helping to facilitate
much of that growth. You know, the company started fifteen
years ago with a very simple problem. At that point,
how do you help parents and coaches solve the issue
of showing up at the wrong.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Field at the wrong time. And this was a stage.
Speaker 9 (27:56):
Where you know, it sounds like younger parents, you know,
like our generation, we're up in coming, and you know,
I remember vast memories of the phone chain, right and
you missed the phone chain. You didn't realize that the
game time had moved, or it was a different field,
or the game was canceled. And so as younger parents
were coming up, the app ecosystem was really gaining momentum.
(28:18):
This was an offering that really caught like wildfire from
a grassroots virality perspective, and over time the company continued
to evolve. I had the privilege of stepping in as
CEO back in April of twenty one, so about four
and a half years ago. I was part of a
growth equity PE investment firm that acquired the business. And
(28:38):
you know, since then, we've been off the races in
terms of the investment we put into the technology, the advancements,
the size and scale of our portfolio, and the reach
that we continue to develop.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Well, Peter, I really wish I had known about your
app a few years back when I was in Chappaqua
at a soccer match that was actually taking place in
Newer Shell. I mean, like it was crazy, but just
hear me out here, you know, it's such a brilliant idea.
Put some numbers around it for us. How many people
are on your platform and what are they paying? I see,
you know there's an ultra package, there's the premium package,
(29:08):
but it looks to be ten to twenty five per
month per user? Is that about right?
Speaker 5 (29:12):
So we have a couple different offerings.
Speaker 9 (29:14):
First, in terms of size and scale, Right, we have
over twenty five million registered users. We have about two
million on average using our platform on a daily basis. Right,
And so this is reach, it is distribution power, and
it is really a responsibility of us to continue to
innovate and be able to bring what the power of
this organizational technology can bring to youth sports. We do
(29:36):
have a couple of different ways in which we monetize
our subscriptions, dependent upon how whether it be a family,
a coach, or a league and club administrator operator wants
to buy our services. What you're looking on on our
website is more so focused on the coach if they
want to buy our mobile offering solely for the communication
(29:57):
organization of their team, and then we have more of
a traditional kind of SaaS subscription that's a B to
B focused offering for the operators and league owners and administrators.
Speaker 5 (30:07):
I'm impressed because you're getting a lot of corporate brands
investing in sports, and we're talking about like Jersey, Mikes
and Toyota expand more.
Speaker 9 (30:17):
On that look, we estimate that youth sports is a
forty billion dollar plus market at this time and on
Team Snap given them millions of users we have, you know,
these are typically heads of households, middle upper income families.
Our estimates is we have over three trillion dollars of
buying power alone just on our platform, and so that
(30:38):
is an opportunity for brands and the affinity of those
brands to really align themselves at a grassroots level in
the community, whether it be through our sponsorship offering, so
allowing a spectrum or a door dash or jersey mics
to put their jerseys, their logos on jerseys banners in
the outfield, but taking a large percentage of those dollars
(31:00):
and putting them right back into the team, right, and
allowing those organizations to help subsidize, whether it be the
cost of registration, fees, equipment, but really aligning their brand
with the most emotional times of a sport families week, right,
which is when the kids are on the field, on
the court, on the rink and they see us and
we are one of the largest channel across youth sports.
Speaker 7 (31:23):
In order to.
Speaker 9 (31:24):
Marry those large brands up with the grassroots organizations across
this country.
Speaker 7 (31:28):
It's interesting, you know, when we're talking about the brands
that are coming in and also private equity investment that's
really taken hold in youth sports.
Speaker 6 (31:36):
We see it a lot. We're seeing it a lot
more in sports in general.
Speaker 7 (31:39):
One of the things I'm interested is do you think
it youth sports right now is actually a better investment
than professional sports because buying ten percent of an NFL
team will cost you a billion dollars. But if the
youth sports market is forty billion dollars on its own,
is that an easier quicker ROI or you know, what
are your thoughts on the investment part in U sports?
Speaker 9 (32:00):
Might be a little bit biased, but I do think
there's a lot more work that goes in that needs
to go into the ROI on the investments on the
youth sports side, right, So think about the youth sports market.
First off, we need to parcel off the programming, right,
so those clubs, leagues, organizations that are providing the programming
of sport with the software and technology side, which is
(32:21):
where obviously my purview and where Team snap sits. And there,
you know, in any kind of traditional market as it
continues to mature, Yes, like private equity is going to
come in as companies mature and need a more sophisticated
capital partner to help fuel its growth, right, And so
we have been the luxury at Team Snapyard to partner
with a great growth equity firm called WAD Capital out
(32:43):
of Chicago. It's very bullish about the growth trajectory of
this business, but there is very similar to the professional league,
a scarcity of assets across youth sports that have both
the scale, the growth potential and the trajectory to warrant
that level of investment and sophisticated investor coming in. And
you know, on the software side, there's only a handful
of us that you know, you would argue as you
(33:04):
start to get into kind of one hundred million, five
hundred million plus valuations that can help to justify that
level or return. Well.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Peter, four million monthly active users, two million daily active users.
I think Team Snap process nearly one billion dollars in
payments in twenty twenty five year to date. I mean,
I just it's so brilliant what you've done here.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
For me.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I mean, it's not just scheduling, you know, and tracking
games and getting you know, coaches to the right field
on time. It's practice plans, it's coaching tips, and you know,
for me, you know, it's the ability to give you know,
these these these regular people who are coaching their their
their you know, youth sports, you know, a chance to
coach with confidence and to organize the chaos, right, Peter,
I mean it's just so brilliant. And then to on
(33:44):
top of that, bolt the corporate sponsorship element that Michael
was referring to. I mean, wouldn't you, Michael, be more
inclined to bank at Truest than JP Morgan if your
son was playing with a little truist on is the
back of his jersey. I don't know. I mean I
think I might. I think I think it does mean different.
Speaker 5 (34:00):
I'm going to bring up bowling again. If I had
my sponsor like I have on my bowling shirt. Hey,
that's where I'm going to buy the car.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
I mean, are you seeing that, Peter t Are you
seeing it actually changing the buying behavior of parents and households?
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (34:14):
Look, we you know, through our sponsorship, we've invested heavily
in a technology platform to help show the attribution of
the ROI back to the brand dollars that are going
into these communities, and as we survey parents and families
through the course of the season, at the end of it,
you know, some of the numbers are off the charts, right,
forty percent improvement in terms of brand recognition, over forty
(34:35):
percent improvement and brand affinity and the emotional connection that
those families that had been sponsored, or because we are
also kind of you know, geofencing field and being able
to show the foot traffic. It's there's a halo effect
no different than professional collegiate sponsorship that takes place. Right
If a team is going in to a tournament over
(34:55):
the weekend and there's a thousand teams participating, that's a
sign magnificant visibility of that brand that's front and center
of saying, hey, okay, you know, this brand cares about
our kids, this brand cares about our community, and the
data improves it, right, and there's no question about it.
And you know, not just on the sponsorship side, but
we have an incredible list of partners with the professional
(35:17):
leagues and you mentioned kind of the support and coaching.
You know, we've had the privilege of being able to
partner with the MLB, NFL, FLAG, NBA, MLS PLL on
bringing the focus to down to coaching right and developed
an entire coaching suite of content, I think, skills and
drills that were highly produced so that volunteer coaches, which
(35:39):
is also a huge shortage and challenge here in the country,
can feel more confident in what they're doing each day
and each week, even if they didn't coach in that
specific sport, right, And so helping to arm those coaches
through an entire offering and in partnership with those professional
leagues that is really geared on improving the quality of
coaching across this country.
Speaker 5 (35:58):
One thing that really makes this very successful today's parents.
One they are more digitally active and two they're more
time constrained. Back in the day, Hey, I got to
watch my soaps. All my children is coming on in
one life to live and get out of the way,
general hospitals coming on after that. We don't have that
(36:19):
time anymore. It's and this whole thing that you are
behind seems to help parents very well.
Speaker 9 (36:27):
Yeah, And we acquired a business called Mojo Sports about
a year and a half, just a year and a
half ago, and Mojo was started by two co founders,
Reach Schaffner and Venture what had been Here's might know
the name ran all of Disney Television ABC Television under
Bob Aiger for a decade plus worldwide. And you know
he left in twenty nineteen and his two kids were
(36:47):
young teenagers and he thought there's got to be a
better way to bring the Disney production level of media
into youth sports and create an entire media platform from
all of kind of the coaching content and those videos
that we're talking about all the way through live game
video streaming, highlight creation. And you know, we've been hard
(37:07):
at work and bringing that technology into the Team Snap ecosystem,
and you know, we'll be coming out with some very
large releases at the end of this year, and we're
focused very much on that exact challenge, like how do
you help families capture the memories of youth sport? And
this isn't about the data analytics, It's not about how
fast the kids running across the field. It's for that
four to fourteen year old kind of the Disney family
(37:30):
of sport. If I'm not able to get see the
game because I'm traveling, how can I tune in either
live or get a sixty second clip of all of
the highlights from my son after the game? And you know,
we think this youth sports streaming market is somewhere in
the range of twelve to fifteen billion dollars here in
the US, and it's one of the largest sports stream
markets that no one's talking about and we're going to
(37:50):
go hard after it, and we're very focused on bringing
that level of value and this next generation of technology
to the tens of millions of sports families across the country.
Speaker 7 (37:58):
All Right, thanks to Peter frinzillis joining us. He's chief
executive officer of the youth sports management platform Team Snap.
Speaker 5 (38:04):
And hey, now, thank you for joining us. For my
colleagues Damian Sasauer and Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr. Tune
in again next week for the latest on the stories
moving big old money in the world of sports.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
And don't forget to subscribe to our podcast see you
never miss an episode. Find that on Apple, Spotify or
anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 5 (38:25):
You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberger
Radio around the world.
This is the Business of Sports.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Sports are the greatest unscripted show owner.
Speaker 3 (00:06):
The next generation of players who really grew up with
tech and believe in tech.
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Your face is your ticket, your face is your wallet,
your face is your access to a club.
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These are such iconic and important buildings for businesses.
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For fans, COVID was one of the best things that
ever happened to go.
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The NFL is a bulletproof business.
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Racing is unique because there is absolutely no reason why
we can't compete with the guys.
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I'm wall It's pro pickleball.
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Real, are people really going to tune into this?
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If you're playing moneyball with a huge bag of money,
you're going to be really, really good.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (00:39):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports for week, explore
the big money issues in the world of sports.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I'm Michael Barr, I'm Damian Sassauer.
Speaker 6 (00:46):
And I'm Benesa Prodromo.
Speaker 5 (00:47):
Coming up, we'll talk youth sports and the sports tech
platform that supports over twenty five million coaches, players, parents
and administrators across the country.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
We'll also get under the hood Dick's boarding goods and
figure out what is exactly driving its success relative to
its competitors.
Speaker 5 (01:05):
Hmmm, all that is on the way. But first, President
Donald Trump is wanting some cities that he could take
some major international sports events away from them.
Speaker 7 (01:14):
Ataway House of an earlier this week, the President told
reporters that he would consider moving the twenty twenty six
FIFA World Cup out of Boston and shift the twenty
twenty eight Olympics from Los Angeles if he thought the
cities weren't properly prepared or if conditions were unsafe.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
Here's the president on that issue.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
If somebody is doing a bad job, and if I
feel there's unsafe conditions, I would call Johnny, the head
of FIFA, who's phenomenal, and I would say, let's move
it to another location.
Speaker 5 (01:41):
And he would do that.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
He would love to do it, but he'd do it
very easily. He'd do it, and this is the right
time to do it. If I thought Boston was doing
something that was going to be cause safety conditions for
the World Cup, I could say the same thing for
the Olympics, because you know we have events center in
different locations. For the Olympics, it's based in la If
(02:03):
I thought La was not going to be prepared properly.
I would move it to another location if I had to.
Speaker 5 (02:09):
For more on this and what having these events mean
to places like Boston and Los Angeles, we welcome Bloomberg
see Taylor who has done reporting on this straight. Welcome
to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
Thanks for having me back this to.
Speaker 5 (02:25):
Start from the beginning, Can he take away the games?
Speaker 8 (02:28):
It's not feasible, Like operationally, it's nearly impossible. I'm not
going to say anything's impossible, but it's like this has
been in the works for several years. You know, there
are a bunch of contracts involved there, international contracts. It
would seem like I know him and Jihnny Infantina, the
FIFA president, are very chummy. So maybe he could kind
(02:53):
of work that and get the FIFA president to move
it if he if he desired. But the president himself,
as far as we know, cannot move it.
Speaker 6 (03:04):
It's just too far along.
Speaker 7 (03:07):
So one of the things that struck me about the
comments was that he said he also could move the
LA Olympics, you know, if he so desired. But also
it was bypassing the fact that LA also has World
Cup games, right, So what is he do you think,
you know, thinks there's something that's going to change the
next three years that LA wouldn't be ready to host
(03:29):
the Olympics, but they're fine to host the World Cup
next year.
Speaker 8 (03:32):
I think that he is just kind of going for
anything he can when it comes to these Blue cities.
You know, this isn't the first time he's targeted Boston
or LA or or you know, Newsom or Boston or
Michelle wou So he has been trying to crack down
(03:53):
in any way he can on them not complying with
his mandates that he's brought up, you know, whether it's
about Emma cration or or you know, just general crime
or anything. He's kind of he's kind of gotten some
friction with them from anyone who's kind of standing in
his way. So it's kind of, you know, to be
seen like can he actually do it? We don't think
(04:16):
so as far as I know, you know, and the
people that I've spoken to have been like, well, this
is just too far along, like you said, Yeah, LA
is also hosting the World Cup Games and has been
also gearing up for the twenty twenty eight Olympics, which
takes years and years and years of preparation. There are
nations involved, like across the globe, So it's not just
(04:37):
about the US, and it's not just about what Trump wants.
Everyone kind of has a stake in this, specifically when
it comes to the Olympics. So you know, it's just
a little too far along. It would it would take,
it would take a lot of effort to really truly
peel it back. He can't just simply be like, well,
let's just move it somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Well, I mean, I mean three, I take your point
on the operational infeasibility of moving an event such as this.
They take that. You know, that's rit But I think,
you know, we have to take a step back and
look at what he's what he's arguing. He's saying that
conditions are unsafe. So in the case of Los Angeles
with the Olympics, for example, he's saying that Newsom can't
protect them from wildfires. My point is, if the president
fears for the safety of I don't know, the citizens
(05:19):
of Boston, I mean, can't can he legally just stop it?
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Can't he do that?
Speaker 8 (05:25):
Of course he can, you know, he can propose it, right,
but Trump can basically say he's going to do anything right,
you know, I guess with the transit projects, like for example,
with congestion pricing, he said, I'm gonna stop that, and
you know, you know he was sued. Like the courts
got together and like, actually, no, we're gonna block this
from happening. So there is intervention that will likely take place,
(05:50):
and not just from you know, these cities who are
being impacted, but probably the nations who, like I said,
have a stake in this, have a financial stake in this,
have already put a lot of money towards that are
already preparing to come here for the game. So it's
just not feasible. Is it legal? That's still kind of
up for debate.
Speaker 7 (06:11):
FIFA put out a statement that was this blanket statement
that said essentially, the US government and safety concern they
are basically in charge of safety and they have the
right to do this, but shree, tell me, like what
you think on that?
Speaker 5 (06:25):
Is it?
Speaker 7 (06:25):
More so they're like, listen, we know it's not going
to happen, so we'd rather just not make an enemy
out of Trump.
Speaker 6 (06:31):
I think that is the situation.
Speaker 8 (06:33):
I think that's been the situation for a lot of
entities and politicians and cities and states that have been
targeted by Trump on just virtually anything. I think that
the current stance that a lot of these folks are
taking is like, yeah, like you said, I they don't
even know if this is because this is kind of unprecedented,
(06:55):
Like they don't even know if this is a possibility,
or how this would go, how long it would take.
You know, they know what's at stake, but it's so
far along that it's extremely unrealistic that he can snap
a finger and it'll all go go away.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
Well, I see, that's the thing. You have so many
governing bodies, and you have very strong governing bodies, Which
brings me to the point. If you are a supporter
in Boston and you just heard the President say that,
you're thinking, hey man, we got a lot of coin
going into this. How much money is Boston expected to
(07:31):
make with the World Cup?
Speaker 8 (07:33):
So Boston itself is expecting to get a one point
one billion economic you know, wind fall from this. So
it's an I think La with the Olympics, not even
the World Cup, but with the Olympics. I think La
as a city is expecting about eighteen billion up to
eighteen billion from some projections that I've seen. So there's
(07:54):
a lot of you know, money on the table here
that they're like, Okay, we're putting in all of this effort.
This is going to be our return on investment. And
you know that kind of benefits these regents, even even
if temporarily, like it's creating jobs and and you know,
the hotel sector and and you know, the hospitality sector
(08:15):
is going to.
Speaker 6 (08:15):
See like a big boost.
Speaker 8 (08:18):
And I just don't think that not only is it
not feasible to kind of just do it overnight, but
it is detrimental to the cities. So I think that
Trump is trying to scare blue cities in their leaders,
which he kind of has been doing. Boston has been
(08:41):
you know, kind of a punching bag for I mean,
this whole year when it comes to just like a
swath of his policies. So I'm not surprised that he
has targeted Boston in this in this situation, I'm sure
if you know, he's targeted Chicago, and he's and he's
targeted Portland. If we're trying to see a pattern here,
(09:02):
it's all blue cities in blue states where he's like,
you know you don't agree with me, you're not complying.
I'm going to find a way to hit you where
it hurts. If he can actually do that in time
and derail something that's happening in mere months, I would
be very, very surprised if he was able to really
(09:26):
get this off.
Speaker 6 (09:27):
Course, what would have to happen very soon exactly.
Speaker 7 (09:29):
And we have yet to see a city step up
and be like, hey, we're ready, So let's play a
game here and see who would actually like is it
the matter of any one basically with an NFL stadium
could step up and.
Speaker 6 (09:43):
Be like, hey, we're ready.
Speaker 8 (09:48):
Well, in all fairness, these these cities kind of put
in their bid when Biden, when the Biden administration was
still in the White House, so you know, this has
been long before.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
So I do think that.
Speaker 8 (10:03):
You know, in the cities defense, it takes a very
long time to prep they're not ready yet, which you
and I have talked about, like they're still not ready.
When they will be ready is another conversation. But I
don't think that any other city has been, like, has
gotten the funding and has really been, you know, prepping
(10:25):
to do this in the same way. Maybe maybe you know,
a city that hosts the Super Bowl often. I mean,
but you know, Vegas, Vegas, that would be fun.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Gus.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Look, I mean you make a great point sary in
that preparation is everything. The amount of money that's already
be invested to get these cities game ready, I mean
it's it's I mean, it's a lot of money ready.
We're talking tens if not you know, more millions of dollars.
And so look at what the federal government is just
into the city of New York, you know, with holding
funds for the trans big transfer project. That's eighteen billion,
I mean right there. So it's not like we can
(10:58):
discount that this can't happen.
Speaker 8 (11:00):
If Trump is successful in moving the you know, World
Cup games, I don't think that they would happen on time.
I don't think people have already bought tickets. Like, it's
not even about the cities and then the you know,
nations across the globe that have that have a financial
stake in this. But it's also people have prepared their
own pockets. The fans are also kind of you know,
setting themselves up to be like, oh, I'm you know,
(11:21):
I'm gonna follow my team or I'm planning on being
in Seattle or you know, so on and so forth.
So it has already trickled down to the fans, So
that's not gonna go overwhel either. And to your point
about Trump and how he's kind of, you know, set
out to pause these transit you know projects in Chicago
(11:41):
and in New York. You know he can withhold the
funding for sure, But what I've heard in my reporting
on that.
Speaker 6 (11:51):
Is that a lot of these projects.
Speaker 8 (11:54):
When Trump was coming into office, they were like, we're
gonna try to really hit the ground running, get funding
to get us further along so that Trump can't do
what he's trying to do now like they have enough
or they say for the next few years, right, They're like,
we have enough financial runway that it's going to be
(12:14):
too late for him to step in and be like
never mind.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
So that's what that's kind of the posturing.
Speaker 8 (12:21):
I think with a lot of these with New York
specifically and also Chicago, and I think that's the same
situation here.
Speaker 6 (12:28):
There's just too much.
Speaker 8 (12:29):
They're too far along to where it would just not
be operationally feasible.
Speaker 6 (12:37):
Are thanks to Bloomberg Tree Taylor for joining us coming up.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
On the show, we turn to what Dick Sporting Goods
is doing.
Speaker 5 (12:43):
Right for Damien Sasaur and Vanessa Bernomo. I'm Michael Barr.
You are listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports Bloomberg
Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (13:03):
This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports when we explore
the big money issues in the world of sports.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
I'm Michael Barr, I'm Damian Sasauer, and I'm n Esa Promo.
Dick Sporting Goods is doing something right. They've added a
ton of stories at a time where online shopping is
dominating sales, and a lot of it has to do
with parent spending money on kids sports.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
Bloomberg News Global Business of Sports reporter Ira Budway has
a new Bloomberg Business Week feature that takes a closer
look at what's going right with Dick's Sporting Goods, and
he is here now to talk to us about it. Iira,
welcome back to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
You wrote an article, a great essay, the secret to
Dick's Sporting Goods thirteen billion dollar boom. Well, what's the secret?
Speaker 3 (13:50):
This secret is people like me spending more money than
they should because their kids play sports and they are
constantly at Dick's and it's it's a great it's a
you know. The reason I wrote this was because I
have this. I wouldn't say love hate, but it's like
I can't get away from the store. But I kind
of like it, you know, I enjoy myself. And but
(14:12):
you look back and you look back at my own
spending there, because it's all tracked by their loyalty app,
and it's like, oh, I've spent like three grand in
the last two or three years on a whole bunch
of things there. You know, it just adds up past.
Speaker 7 (14:24):
It's so interesting because I think one of the other
things that you had mentioned was in this this world
of online spending, people are still going into the Dick's
sporting good stores.
Speaker 6 (14:35):
Why do people go in person?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Yeah, I mean, I think a big part of their
success is that they sell stuff that you want to
touch it before you buy it. Now, other sporting good
chains have died, so they've done other things.
Speaker 6 (14:46):
All I used to spend my whole life there.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
So it's not like they just fell into this. But
I think part of the reason they've been able to
find this formula is that people want to feel a
glove before they buy it. They want to feel cleats
on their feet before they buy them, and it's it's
a little bit more immune to online commerce than like
a T shirt or other things where you just order
(15:10):
in three sizes and send the two back kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Well, Ira, let's put some numbers around just exactly the
scale of Dicks starting out in Binghamton. But I mean,
now it's got what seven hundred and twenty stores. Annual
sales have doubled to thirteen billions since twenty nineteen, profits
have tripled over the period, and they just announced their
intention to purchase foot Locker. So I mean for me,
I mean, like, where's all the money coming from? Is
(15:33):
it really coming from justice, what's the demographic? Like, what's
their sweet spot? Who are they catering to.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
They have done a good job of hitting like the
middle to upper middle class customer who has been very resilient.
So if you look at the brands that they carry,
you know, it's on running, it's Nike, it's Yetti coolers,
it's stuff that is not on the cheap end of
what they offer. They have a house brand that kind
of so that they can hit that customer. And Ed Stack,
(16:01):
their longtime CEO, the son of Dick Stack, the founder,
he said, look, we we want to serve that customer
who's at the middle to lower middle, but really our
core is the upper middle demographic.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Well, I think what was so interesting was, I mean
you met with the son of the founder, son of
Dick Stack. And in the early days when they were deciding,
I mean, get this one, when they were deciding where
to build a Dicks, they look for best buys Is
that right? And like, I don't think all the beauty,
but they looked for like where the foot traffic was there,
and then they went around the town. Is that right
(16:35):
to look for like people building play sets or building
pools or something. I mean, is that right?
Speaker 4 (16:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (16:40):
He said. It was two things. They started with where's
where's the best buy, because that's just like a good
proxy for like, of course they've done their homework right,
And then they would drive around the neighborhood where there
was the best buy and just look for swing sets
and yards. Brilliant because that was a sign of kids
and they know that families are just so key business.
So that's they know that. Like when I told him
(17:01):
how old my kids were, I have an eleven year
old and a thirteen year old. They both play a
lot of sports. He was like, well, we love families
that age because you're going to be doing this for
a long time, you know. And he knows he's had
he had five kids who all played sports. He's kind
of done with that part of his life. But he
knew exactly you know how he.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Well, well, I mean, Michael Barr knows this. You know,
we're in the world of finance here, and you know,
if you look back into the early days of mortgage
backed securities and things like that, you know, you'll ask
people at Black Rock and Morgan Stanley and they'll tell
you the truth. They used to travel around town and
be like, oh, this person's building an extension on his house.
Speaker 5 (17:32):
They're going to.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Prepay on their mortgage. Let's buy these bonds, right, So
I mean it works. I mean, come on, Michael Barr, Well,
the philosophy works well. And this is something else I
didn't know, yes, because I'm stupid, because you know, I
didn't realize this. The Dick's House of sports stores. They're
double the size of those standard locations. I didn't even
(17:54):
realize there was a sports store, so the same, Yeah,
well what is that?
Speaker 3 (17:59):
This is a new con they have started to They
describe it as sort of disrupting their own business. They
tried to build a store that was better than what
they had, and they've done about twenty of them. And
so I went down to the one near Pittsburgh near
their headquarters where they've bought. They used the shell of
an old seers so it's more than one hundred thousand
square feet, and what they've done is they've added rock
(18:20):
climbing walls, there's a turf field outside, there's batting cages,
there's places to putt and rip open packs of cards,
and so they're basically leaning into the experiential part of this,
and I think it's pretty clever because in my experience,
a lot of the times, like my kids want to
go there, and you see other like middle schoolers, they're
just horsing around with stuff, and I'm sure that for
(18:41):
like store managers, it's a headache, but they're trying to
turn that bug into a feature.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Right.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
They know that they can pull people in with all
this stuff for the kids to do, and while the
kids are doing that. I'm walking around looking at you know,
maybe a pair of running shoes attempting me. So it's
a pretty clever strategy.
Speaker 6 (18:58):
I saw one the other day had the turf field
on the outside, and I was busy.
Speaker 7 (19:02):
I was so confused, and I was like, did they
just put a ransom like soccer field on this?
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Do you remember the McDonald's, the McDonald's that used to
have a hole.
Speaker 7 (19:10):
Well that was the best, but like, I mean those
were the best, but like the turf field, like, they
don't have like games and stuff there, do they.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
It's interesting how they program it. They will invite like
leagues and camps to come. But they said that that
in this one outside Pittsburgh, people have learned the schedule
and there's free play time and people will just show
up and play, you know, touch football or soccer or
use the track. If you're looking to buy a bicycle
from them, they will bring you up and put you
(19:38):
on the track and you can ride it around there.
So they found a lot of ways to use it
and customers have already kind of discovered it and it's
bringing people there just just to play.
Speaker 6 (19:49):
Yeah, that's crazy.
Speaker 7 (19:50):
And I think the other thing that we really need
to know here is like last year, parents spent more
than forty billion dollars on their kids in U sports, right,
And it's an increase from forty six percent since twenty nineteen.
But that can't just be like pandemic spending, right, Like
why such a big increase do.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
You think it is? Yeah, I mean this is a
booming industry, and it's interesting because I think some of
it is driven by it's been kind of professionalized and
there's like a kind of luxury aspect to it. In
baseball in particular, there's all this stuff now that the
bats costs more. You have sliding mits, you have heart shirts,
you have all this extra equipment elbow guards that I
(20:27):
never had as a kid. And so the sort of
baseline cost and then what you can spend if you
want to go for the deluxe is both have gone
up a lot.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Well, I'd be curious to know what percentage golf is
of total revenue because I'm sure with you know, golf
has become super popular since the pandemic, and they they
have become with their in house simulators and everything. I mean,
they fit for god, I mean, they become a go
to for a lot of golfers out there, so I'm
sure that's helped as well. But you know, before we
lose you here, Ira, talk to us about Game Changer.
(20:56):
You know what is game Changer? I mean, you know,
we heard about Dick's you know, investment in our rival,
the youth sports conglomerate, you know, Blitzer, Harris and all
that stuff, Like what else are they doing to approach
that youth sports segment?
Speaker 3 (21:07):
So they are basically trying to create as many ways
of interacting with sports parents and with young athletes as
they can. They know that it's a big part of
what comes into their store and who their core customer is.
So several years ago they bought game Changer, which started
out as this app that lets you basically score a
baseball game on your phone, so if you're doing a
youth baseball game, you don't need an old score book.
(21:30):
But it's grown into something where you can watch the game.
You can you know, hang your phone behind the backstop
and then Grandma at home can watch the kid's game,
and all these other features that you know, registering for tournaments,
keeping track of rosters and so on. So dick S
bought that and it allows them to sync it up
with their loyalty program for instance, and they can when
(21:51):
you open Game Changer, they can try to sell you
the bat that they know you're gonna need. And they
told me that, you know, the person who has both
their loyalty score card app and Game Changer spends twice
as much as the person who just has the loyalty apps.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
And they can their movements, right, like if they have
a game and you know, yeah, I don't know. You know,
a bunch of kids have a travel game. You know,
you're going to Delaware for the weekend. You know, like
there's a Dicks down there, like, hey, we know you're
gonna maybe need some extra balls or extra batting gloves
or whatever.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
Right, or a hotel or hotel kinds of options, right.
Speaker 5 (22:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And so between Game Changer and Unrivaled, which runs leagues
and camps, they kind of can watch the whole journey
and have a lot of ways to you know, target
customers and sell to them and keep in touch.
Speaker 5 (22:37):
It's those products that I don't think about that Dick
sells that really are important. I mean coolers, and you know,
for example, it's like, Okay, you're watching your kid play
blah blah blah blah blah blah, and you've got to
bring in a cooler because you have some so you.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
Don't want to heah, you don't want to carry a
can of beer and everybody right, you know, you know
the track.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Oh yeah, the products that they sell, it's a lot. Now.
Last time I went to by the Way a message
the Dicks sell more bowling equipment because I went to
Dick's one time and they said, no, We're doing a
new zillion more bowling equipment and I'm like, oh, right,
so but they have really done one whale of a
(23:23):
job ira in cornering the market, and I have to
salute them on that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
I mean they are the standout in not just like
sporting goods, but in big box retail. They're one of
the main standouts of the last ten to fifteen years.
Speaker 7 (23:37):
I think the interesting thing to me in your piece was,
and you said it about baseball and like that wall
of baseball gloves all being different colors, all the things,
and people spending all this different money. But there was
also this problem that we thought for a long time
that kids weren't getting into baseball, they didn't like it,
or does it just not follow into fandom of the MLB,
or is it like new people like a jazz to
(24:00):
some who wears like bright colored stuff that is really
changing that for them.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Yeah, it's sort of like it's a social media phenomenon.
I think in pan of bananas are a big part
of it. But and I just think there may also
be a I think there's a bit of a baseball
revival on now if you just look at the interest
in these playoffs. But certainly in my experience, like the
amount of drip that these kids bring with them to
a baseball game is different from when I was a kid,
(24:27):
So it's thriving in that regard.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Well, I'll tell you this, you know, with my children
now being a bit older than you and on the
other side of this equation, you know, when I drive by,
you know, the Dixon White Plains, New York, I actually
get a little bit of a tear in my eye
because I don't go in there near as much as
I used to. I mean, I used to live in
that place. But you know, I'm glad you still get
to go.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Yeah, I think it's winding down for me a little
bit already, just in terms of the amount of time
where the kids are like, can we just go there
to buy you know there. My kids are middle schoolers now,
so that's like, maybe not as but it still happens.
I still get those requests just go hang out at Dick.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
You keep telling you, I wood Way you are goal.
Thank you so much, sir for joining us on the
Bloomberg Business of Sports. We appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Always a pleasure.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
Up next, we turn to another company doing well in
the growing business of youth sports for damiens Assauer and
Vanessa Perdomo. I'm Michael Barr. You're listening to the Bloomberg
Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio around the world.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio.
Speaker 5 (25:49):
Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports,
where we explore the big money issues in the world
of sports.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
I'm Michael Barr, I'm Damian Sasher, and I'm Vanessa Pronemo.
Speaker 5 (25:59):
Team is home to the largest online community for youth sports.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
It's a sports management platform. Michael Barr with an audience
of more than twenty five million youth sports coaches, administrators,
players and parents, and over nineteen thousand sports organizations.
Speaker 7 (26:15):
Joining us now to talk about the platform and how
youth sports is growing as an industry.
Speaker 6 (26:19):
Is Team Snap CEO Peter Francillis.
Speaker 5 (26:22):
Peter, Welcome to the Bloomberg Business of Sports.
Speaker 9 (26:25):
Thanks for having me excited to be here.
Speaker 5 (26:27):
You are the CEO of Team Snap. What is that so?
Speaker 9 (26:32):
Team Snap is the leading technology platform for youth sports.
We are in the pockets and hands of over twenty
five million coaches, players, parents, administrators. We've got nearly twenty
thousand clubs and leagues that use us to help organize
their operations. And so think about us as the connective
(26:52):
technology platform for everything from registrations, scheduling, rostering and financial
management on the club and league side. Through you know
how parents and coaches communicate each other with each other
through the largest mobile platform in youth sports. And that's
the day in and day out, very busy families, and
we are laser focused on trying to solve a lot
(27:12):
of that chaos and using technology to make youth sports
families lives easier.
Speaker 7 (27:16):
I could imagine that is an extremely helpful business. You know,
I played sports my whole life. I can imagine my
parents would have really loved having something like this when
I was younger. So, Peter, can you tell us more
about how you know this was started and really just
the innovation of youth sports, because there's so much innovation
and technology that's going into youth sports right now.
Speaker 6 (27:34):
I mean it's a completely different ball game.
Speaker 9 (27:35):
Yeah, Look, this is a massive market. I'm sure we're
going to get into discussion around the size and scale,
and technology is a driving factor and helping to facilitate
much of that growth. You know, the company started fifteen
years ago with a very simple problem. At that point,
how do you help parents and coaches solve the issue
of showing up at the wrong.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Field at the wrong time. And this was a stage.
Speaker 9 (27:56):
Where you know, it sounds like younger parents, you know,
like our generation, we're up in coming, and you know,
I remember vast memories of the phone chain, right and
you missed the phone chain. You didn't realize that the
game time had moved, or it was a different field,
or the game was canceled. And so as younger parents
were coming up, the app ecosystem was really gaining momentum.
(28:18):
This was an offering that really caught like wildfire from
a grassroots virality perspective, and over time the company continued
to evolve. I had the privilege of stepping in as
CEO back in April of twenty one, so about four
and a half years ago. I was part of a
growth equity PE investment firm that acquired the business. And
(28:38):
you know, since then, we've been off the races in
terms of the investment we put into the technology, the advancements,
the size and scale of our portfolio, and the reach
that we continue to develop.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Well, Peter, I really wish I had known about your
app a few years back when I was in Chappaqua
at a soccer match that was actually taking place in
Newer Shell. I mean, like it was crazy, but just
hear me out here, you know, it's such a brilliant idea.
Put some numbers around it for us. How many people
are on your platform and what are they paying? I see,
you know there's an ultra package, there's the premium package,
(29:08):
but it looks to be ten to twenty five per
month per user? Is that about right?
Speaker 5 (29:12):
So we have a couple different offerings.
Speaker 9 (29:14):
First, in terms of size and scale, Right, we have
over twenty five million registered users. We have about two
million on average using our platform on a daily basis. Right,
And so this is reach, it is distribution power, and
it is really a responsibility of us to continue to
innovate and be able to bring what the power of
this organizational technology can bring to youth sports. We do
(29:36):
have a couple of different ways in which we monetize
our subscriptions, dependent upon how whether it be a family,
a coach, or a league and club administrator operator wants
to buy our services. What you're looking on on our
website is more so focused on the coach if they
want to buy our mobile offering solely for the communication
(29:57):
organization of their team, and then we have more of
a traditional kind of SaaS subscription that's a B to
B focused offering for the operators and league owners and administrators.
Speaker 5 (30:07):
I'm impressed because you're getting a lot of corporate brands
investing in sports, and we're talking about like Jersey, Mikes
and Toyota expand more.
Speaker 9 (30:17):
On that look, we estimate that youth sports is a
forty billion dollar plus market at this time and on
Team Snap given them millions of users we have, you know,
these are typically heads of households, middle upper income families.
Our estimates is we have over three trillion dollars of
buying power alone just on our platform, and so that
(30:38):
is an opportunity for brands and the affinity of those
brands to really align themselves at a grassroots level in
the community, whether it be through our sponsorship offering, so
allowing a spectrum or a door dash or jersey mics
to put their jerseys, their logos on jerseys banners in
the outfield, but taking a large percentage of those dollars
(31:00):
and putting them right back into the team, right, and
allowing those organizations to help subsidize, whether it be the
cost of registration, fees, equipment, but really aligning their brand
with the most emotional times of a sport families week, right,
which is when the kids are on the field, on
the court, on the rink and they see us and
we are one of the largest channel across youth sports.
Speaker 7 (31:23):
In order to.
Speaker 9 (31:24):
Marry those large brands up with the grassroots organizations across
this country.
Speaker 7 (31:28):
It's interesting, you know, when we're talking about the brands
that are coming in and also private equity investment that's
really taken hold in youth sports.
Speaker 6 (31:36):
We see it a lot. We're seeing it a lot
more in sports in general.
Speaker 7 (31:39):
One of the things I'm interested is do you think
it youth sports right now is actually a better investment
than professional sports because buying ten percent of an NFL
team will cost you a billion dollars. But if the
youth sports market is forty billion dollars on its own,
is that an easier quicker ROI or you know, what
are your thoughts on the investment part in U sports?
Speaker 9 (32:00):
Might be a little bit biased, but I do think
there's a lot more work that goes in that needs
to go into the ROI on the investments on the
youth sports side, right, So think about the youth sports market.
First off, we need to parcel off the programming, right,
so those clubs, leagues, organizations that are providing the programming
of sport with the software and technology side, which is
(32:21):
where obviously my purview and where Team snap sits. And there,
you know, in any kind of traditional market as it
continues to mature, Yes, like private equity is going to
come in as companies mature and need a more sophisticated
capital partner to help fuel its growth, right, And so
we have been the luxury at Team Snapyard to partner
with a great growth equity firm called WAD Capital out
(32:43):
of Chicago. It's very bullish about the growth trajectory of
this business, but there is very similar to the professional league,
a scarcity of assets across youth sports that have both
the scale, the growth potential and the trajectory to warrant
that level of investment and sophisticated investor coming in. And
you know, on the software side, there's only a handful
of us that you know, you would argue as you
(33:04):
start to get into kind of one hundred million, five
hundred million plus valuations that can help to justify that
level or return. Well.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Peter, four million monthly active users, two million daily active users.
I think Team Snap process nearly one billion dollars in
payments in twenty twenty five year to date. I mean,
I just it's so brilliant what you've done here.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
For me.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
I mean, it's not just scheduling, you know, and tracking
games and getting you know, coaches to the right field
on time. It's practice plans, it's coaching tips, and you know,
for me, you know, it's the ability to give you know,
these these these regular people who are coaching their their
their you know, youth sports, you know, a chance to
coach with confidence and to organize the chaos, right, Peter,
I mean it's just so brilliant. And then to on
(33:44):
top of that, bolt the corporate sponsorship element that Michael
was referring to. I mean, wouldn't you, Michael, be more
inclined to bank at Truest than JP Morgan if your
son was playing with a little truist on is the
back of his jersey. I don't know. I mean I
think I might. I think I think it does mean different.
Speaker 5 (34:00):
I'm going to bring up bowling again. If I had
my sponsor like I have on my bowling shirt. Hey,
that's where I'm going to buy the car.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
I mean, are you seeing that, Peter t Are you
seeing it actually changing the buying behavior of parents and households?
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (34:14):
Look, we you know, through our sponsorship, we've invested heavily
in a technology platform to help show the attribution of
the ROI back to the brand dollars that are going
into these communities, and as we survey parents and families
through the course of the season, at the end of it,
you know, some of the numbers are off the charts, right,
forty percent improvement in terms of brand recognition, over forty
(34:35):
percent improvement and brand affinity and the emotional connection that
those families that had been sponsored, or because we are
also kind of you know, geofencing field and being able
to show the foot traffic. It's there's a halo effect
no different than professional collegiate sponsorship that takes place. Right
If a team is going in to a tournament over
(34:55):
the weekend and there's a thousand teams participating, that's a
sign magnificant visibility of that brand that's front and center
of saying, hey, okay, you know, this brand cares about
our kids, this brand cares about our community, and the
data improves it, right, and there's no question about it.
And you know, not just on the sponsorship side, but
we have an incredible list of partners with the professional
(35:17):
leagues and you mentioned kind of the support and coaching.
You know, we've had the privilege of being able to
partner with the MLB, NFL, FLAG, NBA, MLS PLL on
bringing the focus to down to coaching right and developed
an entire coaching suite of content, I think, skills and
drills that were highly produced so that volunteer coaches, which
(35:39):
is also a huge shortage and challenge here in the country,
can feel more confident in what they're doing each day
and each week, even if they didn't coach in that
specific sport, right, And so helping to arm those coaches
through an entire offering and in partnership with those professional
leagues that is really geared on improving the quality of
coaching across this country.
Speaker 5 (35:58):
One thing that really makes this very successful today's parents.
One they are more digitally active and two they're more
time constrained. Back in the day, Hey, I got to
watch my soaps. All my children is coming on in
one life to live and get out of the way,
general hospitals coming on after that. We don't have that
(36:19):
time anymore. It's and this whole thing that you are
behind seems to help parents very well.
Speaker 9 (36:27):
Yeah, And we acquired a business called Mojo Sports about
a year and a half, just a year and a
half ago, and Mojo was started by two co founders,
Reach Schaffner and Venture what had been Here's might know
the name ran all of Disney Television ABC Television under
Bob Aiger for a decade plus worldwide. And you know
he left in twenty nineteen and his two kids were
(36:47):
young teenagers and he thought there's got to be a
better way to bring the Disney production level of media
into youth sports and create an entire media platform from
all of kind of the coaching content and those videos
that we're talking about all the way through live game
video streaming, highlight creation. And you know, we've been hard
(37:07):
at work and bringing that technology into the Team Snap ecosystem,
and you know, we'll be coming out with some very
large releases at the end of this year, and we're
focused very much on that exact challenge, like how do
you help families capture the memories of youth sport? And
this isn't about the data analytics, It's not about how
fast the kids running across the field. It's for that
four to fourteen year old kind of the Disney family
(37:30):
of sport. If I'm not able to get see the
game because I'm traveling, how can I tune in either
live or get a sixty second clip of all of
the highlights from my son after the game? And you know,
we think this youth sports streaming market is somewhere in
the range of twelve to fifteen billion dollars here in
the US, and it's one of the largest sports stream
markets that no one's talking about and we're going to
(37:50):
go hard after it, and we're very focused on bringing
that level of value and this next generation of technology
to the tens of millions of sports families across the country.
Speaker 7 (37:58):
All Right, thanks to Peter frinzillis joining us. He's chief
executive officer of the youth sports management platform Team Snap.
Speaker 5 (38:04):
And hey, now, thank you for joining us. For my
colleagues Damian Sasauer and Vanessa Perdomo, I'm Michael Barr. Tune
in again next week for the latest on the stories
moving big old money in the world of sports.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
And don't forget to subscribe to our podcast see you
never miss an episode. Find that on Apple, Spotify or
anywhere else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 5 (38:25):
You're listening to the Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberger
Radio around the world.
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