This Week’s Report. This week, we're tracking consolidation signals, fresh capital deployment, and off-market opportunities you won't find anywhere else. Our research team analyzed 47 youth sports transactions, 12 new fund announcements, and emerging data from institutional allocators. Here's your executive brief:
“When you remove waste, everything expands: participation, retention, trust, and total addressable market. Accessibility is a growth strategy in a category that has been inefficient for decades.”
— Dan Soviero, Founder & CEO, Signature Athletics | Read full post →
OFF-MARKET DEALS: EXCLUSIVE SIGNATURE LOOK
Curated Opportunities You Won't Find Anywhere Else
Every week, we feature 3 off-market opportunities across youth sports. Names and locations are redacted to protect confidentiality. Apply below to connect with our deal analyst for pre-qualification and introductions.
Tier 1: Investable Business
📊 National Golf Tournament Platform (Redacted)
Revenue (TTM) $9.5M | EBITDA $1.1M (12%) |
Ownership Founder 60%, Investors 40% | Status Stealth Mode |
National-scale youth golf tournament platform with passionate operator at the helm. High margin, scalable business model with strong community brand presence. Founder open to equity roll, long-term operating role, and integration into Signature platform. Strong synergy with Signature Growth Services, Media, and Locker tech.
Why It Matters: Golf is underserved in the youth sports consolidation landscape. This is a turnkey national brand with real EBITDA, not a concept.
Tier 1: Investable Business
📊 Volleyball Club + Tournament Platform
Revenue (TTM) $5.7M+(clubs+platform) | EBITDA 20%+ blended |
Assets 9+ locations + $5M facility | Ownership Founder majority across entities |
Operator owns/controls multiple volleyball entities across two club brands and a new tournament platform with real estate value. Includes $5M owned facility with subleases and strategic leadership bench (COO, admin GM). Founder open to Signature partnership with roll-forward structure. Tournament platform in early innings with IP owned across brands.
Why It Matters: Exclusive look at one of the most dominant Southeast volleyball operators before formal process begins.
Tier 2: Acquirable Business
📊 Carolina-Based Single Sport Operator (Youth-Club)
Revenue (TTM) $2.1M | EBITDA $400K (19%) |
Growth (YoY) 10% | Status Profitable w/Team in Place |
Profitable single-sport operator with experienced staff in place. Steady 10% YoY growth with operator managing day-to-day. Ideal bolt-on acquisition for existing platform or strategic operator looking for clean, cash-flowing business.
All opportunities are pre-vetted by our deal team. Apply above to receive full details and connect directly with the entrepreneur.
FEATURED YOUTH SPORTS INVESTOR
This Week’s Capital Partner
Every week, we profile one active investor writing checks in youth sports—their thesis, deal criteria, and how to connect.
Signature Athletics
Acquirer of Choice in Youth Sports | $2M+ EBITDA Majority Buyout Platform
Investment Thesis: PE alternative for proven youth sports operators seeking liquidity with operational upside. We acquire majority stakes in profitable businesses with strong unit economics and help scale them through The Signature System™—our proprietary playbook for integrating acquisitions and driving post-deal performance.
Led By: Jay Greyson, who sits on multiple public company boards, led a PE firm for 20 years, and has invested in 100s of startups across supply chain, tech, and sports. Jay is the primary point of contact for acquisition inquiries.
Recent Activity: Multiple platform acquisitions across facilities, media, and apparel verticals. Building the 100-year platform for youth sports infrastructure.
What We're Looking For: Youth sports businesses with $2M+ EBITDA, regional market leadership, and founders ready to exit or partner for growth. Ideal targets: multi-facility operators, tournament platforms, sports programs, and vertical SaaS businesses serving youth sports.
Want to be featured or need an intro? Apply here
IN THE NEWS: TRANSACTIONS
Deals Making Headlines
Our unfiltered take on the deals everyone's talking about, analyzed through the lens of operators who've actually built and scaled youth sports businesses.
KKR closes $4.75B Varsity Brands acquisition in largest youth sports deal ever
KKR's paying 12-13x EBITDA for BSN Sports—the real asset here—which sits between Nike/Adidas and 150,000 institutional customers with pricing leverage most distributors can't touch. Bundled with Varsity Spirit's cheer monopoly that just settled an $82M antitrust lawsuit. Bain doubled their money in six years. The regulatory risk? Watch what KKR does with competitive cheer structure.
— Dan Soviero, CEO of Signature Athletics | Read Full Post →
Genstar merges Stack Sports and PlayMetrics to create dominant youth sports SaaS platform
Textbook software monopoly: Genstar spent seven years, 14+ acquisitions building Stack Sports, then merged it with PlayMetrics (2,700 organizations). Now they control registration, scheduling, and payments for U.S. Soccer, Little League, thousands of local clubs. Switching costs are brutal mid-season, so they control pricing. Smart operators are asking: build our own tech stack or pay Genstar rent forever?
— Kim Pope, President of Signature Media | Read Full Post →
KKR-backed PlayOn acquires MaxPreps from CBS Sports, consolidating high school sports media
Paramount fire sale before Skydance merger. KKR now owns distribution (NFHS streaming), ticketing (GoFan), and content (MaxPreps, 28,900 schools). The problem? MaxPreps built its brand on free coverage. Monetizing without destroying value is the challenge—we've seen paywalls crater engagement in local news. Can they sell ads and subscriptions to parents already paying $1K+/kid? Tough math.
— Jay Greyson, Managing Partner, Signature Capital | Read full post →
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