Trump Warns Boston, LA of Relocating Major Events, TeamSnap CEO Peter Frintzilas | Bloomberg…
Summary
Investment in Youth Sports: The podcast discusses the significant growth and investment in the youth sports industry, highlighting it as a $40 billion market with increasing private equity interest.
Impact of Major Events: The potential economic impact of hosting major sports events like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics is emphasized, with Boston and LA expecting substantial financial benefits.
Trump's Influence: Former President Trump's threats to relocate major sports events from cities like Boston and LA are explored, though operational feasibility and legal constraints make such moves unlikely.
Dick's Sporting Goods Strategy: Dick's Sporting Goods' success is attributed to its focus on experiential retail and targeting middle to upper-middle-class families, resulting in significant sales growth.
TeamSnap's Role: TeamSnap is highlighted as a leading technology platform in youth sports, facilitating communication and organization for millions of users, with a focus on enhancing the experience through technology.
Corporate Sponsorships: The podcast notes the increasing involvement of corporate brands in youth sports, leveraging sponsorships to connect with families and communities, enhancing brand affinity and recognition.
Technological Innovations: Innovations in youth sports technology, such as live streaming and coaching tools, are discussed as key drivers of growth and engagement in the sector.
Transcript
This is the business of sports. >> Sports are the greatest unscripted show on earth. The next generation of players really grew up with tech and believe in tech. >> Your face is your ticket. Your face is your wallet. Your face is your access to a club. >> These are such iconic and important buildings for businesses, for fans. >> Co was one of the best things that ever happened to golf. >> The NFL is a bulletproof business. >> Racing's unique because there is absolutely no reason why we can't compete with the guys. >> Come on. Is pro pickle ball real? Are people really going to tune in to this? If you're playing Moneyball with a huge bag of money, you're going to be really, really good. >> Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. >> This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Bar. >> I'm Damian Sassau. >> And I'm Vanessa Pomo. Coming up, we'll talk youth sports and a sports tech platform that supports over 25 million coaches, players, parents, and administrators across the country. >> We'll also get under the hood at Dick Sporting Goods and figure out what is exactly driving its success relative to its competitors. >> All that is on the way, but first, President Donald Trump is warning some cities that he could take some major international sports events away from them. At a White House event earlier this week, the president told reporters that he would consider moving the 2026 FIFA World Cup out of Boston and shift the 2028 Olympics from Los Angeles if he thought the cities weren't properly prepared or if conditions were unsafe. >> Here's the president on that issue. >> 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." And he would do that. He wouldn't 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 if I thought Boston was doing something that was going to be cause safety conditions for the uh you know, World Cup, I could say the same thing for the Olympics because, you know, we have events that are in different locations for the Olympics. It's based in LA. Uh if I thought LA was not going to be prepared properly, I would move it to another location if I had to. For more on this and what having these events mean to places like Boston and Los Angeles, we welcome Bloomberg Street Taylor who has done reporting on this. Welcome to the Bloomberg business of sports. >> Thanks for having me back. >> Let's just start from the beginning. Can he take away the games? >> 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 are international contracts. It would seem like I know him and Giani Infentino, the FIFA president, are very chummy. Um so maybe he could kind of work that and and and get the FIFA president to to move it if he if he desired. But um the president himself um as far as we know cannot move it. It's just too far along. >> 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 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 the Olympics, but they're fine to host the World Cup next year? >> Um, I think that he is just kind of going for anything he can when it comes to these blue cities. Um, you know, this isn't the first time he's targeted Boston or LA, um, or or, you know, Newsome or, um, Boston Mayor Michelle Woo. So, he has been trying to crack down in any way he can on them not complying with his mandates that he's brought up, you know, whether it's about immigration or or, you know, just general crime or anything. He's kind of he's kind of gotten some friction uh 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 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 2028 Olympics. Um, which takes years and years and years of preparation. There are nations involved like across the globe. So, it's not just about the US and it's not just about what Trump wants. Everyone kind of has a stake in this specifically um 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 uh 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." >> Well, I mean I mean Siri, I I I take your point on the operational infeasibility of moving an event such as this. They take that, you know, that that's writ. 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 Newsome can't protect them from wildfires. My point is if the president fears for the safety of I don't know the citizens of Boston. I mean can't can he legally just stop it. Can't he do that? >> Of course he can. You know, he can propose it, right? >> But Trump can basically say he's going to do anything, >> right? >> Uh you know I guess with the transit projects, like for example, with congestion pricing, he said, "I'm going to stop that." and and you know you know he was sued like the courts got together and were like actually no we're going to block this from happening. So there is intervention um that will likely take place 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 it are already preparing to to um to come here for for the game. So, it's just not feasible. Is it legal? >> That's still kind of up for debate. >> 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 Shri, tell me like what you think on that. Is it 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. I think that is the situation. I think that's been the situation for a lot of um entities and politicians and cities and states that have been targeted by Trump on just virtually anything. Um 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 because this is kind of unprecedented like they they don't even know if this is a possibility or how this would go, how long it would take. um you know what's 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. >> Well, I see that's the thing I 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 make with the World Cup? >> So Boston itself is expecting to get a 1.1 billion uh economic you know windfall from this. So it's and I think LA with the Olympics um not even the World Cup but with the Olympics I think LA as a city is expecting about 18 billion up to 18 billion from from uh some projections that I've seen. So there's 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 regions. Um, even even if temporarily, like it's creating jobs and and you know, the hotel sector and and you know, the hospitality sector is going to see like a a big boost. Um, and I just don't think that not only is it not feasible um to kind of just do it overnight, but it is detrimental to the cities. Um, so I think that Trump is trying to scare blue cities and their leaders, which he kind of has been doing. Austin has been um you know kind of a punching bag for I mean this whole year when it comes to um just like a swath of his policies. So um I'm not surprised that he has targeted Boston in this in this situation. Um I'm sure if you know he's targeted Chicago and he's and he's targeted um Portland if we're trying to see a pattern here. It's all blue cities um and blue states where he's like you know you don't agree with me. You're not complying. um I'm going to find a way to hit you where it hurts. >> Right. >> Um if he can actually do that in time and derail something that's happening in mere months >> um I would be very very surprised if he was able to to really get this off course. >> Well, it would have to happen very soon 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 who would actually like is it the matter of any one basically with an NFL stadium could step up and be like, "Hey, we're ready." >> Well, in all fairness, >> these these cities kind of put in their bid when Biden when the Biden administration was was was still in the White House. So, um you know, this has been long before Trump. So, I do think that, you know, in these 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 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. >> Vegas. >> Look I mean you make a great point in that preparation is everything. The amount of money that's already been invested to get these cities game ready. I mean it's it's I mean it's a lot of money already. We're talking tens if not you know more millions of dollars. And and so look at what you know the federal government has just done to the city of New York. You know withholding funds for the trans big transit project. That's$ 188 billion. I mean right there. So it's not like we can discount that this can't happen >> 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 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 I'm gonna follow my team or I'm planning on being in Seattle or or you know so on and so forth. So, it has already trickled down to the fans. So, that's not going to go over well either. Um, and to your point about Trump and how he's kind of, you know, set out to to pause these transit, you know, projects in in Chicago and and and and New York. Um, you know, he can withhold the funding for sure. But what I've heard um in my reporting on that is that a lot of these projects when Trump was coming into office, they were like, "We're gonna try to really hit the ground running and 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 >> they're leaning into for the next few, >> right? They're like, "We have enough financial runway that it's going to be too late for him to step in and be like, "Never mind." So that's what um that's kind of the posturing I think with a lot of these uh with with New York specifically and also Chicago. Um and I think that's the same situation here. There's just too much they're too far along to where it would just not be um operationally feasible. Our thanks to Bloomberg Shri Taylor for joining us. >> Coming up on the show, we turn to what Dick Sporting Goods is doing right >> for Damian Sassau and Vanessa Bdomo. I'm Michael Bar. You are listening to the Bloomberg business of sports from Bloomberg radio around the world. >> This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. >> This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Bar. >> I'm Damen Sassau. >> And I'm Vanessa PMO. >> Dick Sporting Goods is doing something right. They've added a ton of stores at a time where online shopping is dominating sales and a lot of it has to do with parents spending money on kids sports. Bloomberg News Global Business of Sports reporter Ira Budwway has a new Bloomberg Business Week feature that takes a closer look at what's going right with Dick Sporting Goods and he is here now to talk to us about it. Ira, welcome back to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. >> Thank you. You wrote an article, a great essay. The secret to Dick Sporting Goods $13 billion boom. Well, what's the secret? >> The secret is people like me spending more money than they should because their kids play sports and they are constantly at dicks. Um, 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 um but I you look back at I you know look back at my own spending there because it's all tracked by their loyalty app and it's like 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 fast. >> 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 story sporting goods stores. Why do people go in person? 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 the other sporting good chains have died so they've done other things. I used to spend my whole life there. >> 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 in three sizes and send the two back kind of thing. >> Well, Ira, let's put some numbers around just exactly the scale of Dick. Starting out in Bingmpington, but I mean now it's got what 720 stores. Annual sales have doubled to 13 billion since 2019. Profits have tripled over the period and they just announced their intention to purchase Foot Locker. Yeah. So I mean for me I mean like where's all the money coming from? Is it really coming from just us? What's the demographic? Like who what's their sweet spot? Who are they catering to? >> 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 Yeti 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, their uh longtime CEO, the son of Dick Stack, the founder, he said, "Look, we we we want to serve that customer who's at the middle to lower middle, but really our core is the upper middle demographic." Well, I think what was so interesting was I mean you you met with the son of the founder, son of Dickstack and in the early days when they were deciding I mean get this one Vanessa when they were deciding where to build a dicks they looked for Best Buys. Is that right? And like Ulta I don't think Ulta beauty but they look for like where the foot traffic was there and then they went around the town. Is that right? To look for like people building playsets or building pools or something. I mean is that right? Is that >> Yeah. He said it was two things. They started with where's where's a Best Buy cuz that's just like a good proxy for like they've done their homework, right? Um and then they would drive around the neighborhood where there was a Best Buy and just look for swing sets in yards. Brilliant. Because that was a sign of kids and they know that families are just so key to their business. So that's they they know that like when I told him how old my kids were, I have an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old. They both play a lot of sports. >> He was like, "Well, we love families that age cuz you're going to be doing this for a long time." you know, and he knows he's had he had five kids uh who all played sports. He's kind of done with that part of his life, but uh he knew exactly, you know, how he >> well well I mean Michael Bar knows this. You know, we're we're in the world of finance here and you know, if you look back into the early days of mortgage back securities and things like that, you know, you'll ask people at Black Rockck 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. They're going to prepay on their mortgage. Let's buy these bonds." Right? So, I mean, it works, you know? I mean, come on, Michael Bar. Well, it it the philosophy works well. And and this is something else I didn't know. Yes. Cuz I'm stupid because, you know, I didn't realize this. The Dicks House of Sports Stories, they're double the size of the standard locations. I I didn't even realize there was a sports store, so to speak. Well, what is that? >> This is a new concept. Uh they have started to they described as sort of disrupting their own business. They tried to build a store that was better than what they had. Uh, and they've done about 20 of them. And so I went down to the one near Pittsburgh near their headquarters. Uh, where they've bought they used the shell of an old Sears. So it's more than 100,000 square feet. And what they've done is they've added rock climbing walls. Uh, 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 there just horsing around with stuff. And I'm sure that for like store managers it's a headache but they're trying to turn that bug into a feature, right? They 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 uh it's a it's a pretty clever strategy. I saw one the other day that had the turf field on the outside and I was b I was so confused and I was like did they just put a random like soccer field on this? >> Do you remember the McDonald's? The McDonald's that used to have a whole >> 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? >> They It's interesting how they program it. They will invite like leagues and camps to come. But they said that that in 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 if you're looking to buy a bicycle from them, they will bring you up and put you on the track and you can ride it around there. So they they've found a lot of ways to use it. Um and customers have already kind of discovered it and it's bringing people there just to just to play. >> Yeah, that's crazy. And I mean I think the other thing that we really need to know here is like last year parents spent more than $40 billion on their kids in youth sports, right? And it's an increase from 46% since 20 2019. But that can't just be like pandemic spending, right? Like why why such a big increase do 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 cost more. You have sliding mits, you have heart shirts, you have all this extra equipment, elbow guards that I I never had as a kid. And so the the sort of baseline cost and then what you can spend if you want to go for it. The deluxe is both have gone up a lot. 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 I mean, they've 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. You know, what is game changer? I mean, you know, we heard about Dick's, you know, investment in Unrivaled, the youth sports conglomerate, you know, Blitzer, Harrison, all that stuff. What else are they doing to approach that youth sports segment? >> 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 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 scorebook. But it's grown into something where you can watch the game. You can, you know, hang your phone behind the back stop and then grandma at home can watch your the kids game and all these other features that, you know, registering for tournaments, keeping track of rosters and so on. So Dicks bought that and it allows them to sync it up with their loyalty program for instance and they can when you open Game Changer they can try to sell you the bat that they know you're going to need. >> And um it they told me that you know the person who has both their loyalty scorecard app and game changer spends twice as much as the person who just has the loyalty app. So they know >> they track their movements, right? Like if they have a game in, you know, 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 dick down there like, "Hey, we know you're going to maybe need some extra balls or extra batting gloves or whatever >> or a hotel options." Yeah. And so between Game Changer and Unrivaled, which runs leagues and camps, they kind of can watch the whole journey uh and have a lot of ways to, you know, target customers and sell to them and and keep in touch. 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 soap. >> You don't want Yeah. You don't want to carry a can of beer and let everybody see it. You need to, right, Michael? You know, you know the trick. >> Oh, yeah. The products that they sell, it's a lot. Now, last time I went to, by the way, a message to the Dicks, sell more bowling equipment >> cuz I went to a Dick one time and they said, "No, we're not going to sell any more bowling equipment." >> And I'm like, "All right." So, but but they have really done one whale of a job, Ira, in in cornering the market, and I have to salute them on that. >> Yeah. 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 1015 years. 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 chism who wears like bright colored stuff that is really changing that for them? Yeah, it's sort of like it's a social media phenomenon. I think in part Savannah 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. Uh 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. So, uh it's thriving in that regard. 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 Dixs and White Plains New York, I actually get a little bit of a tear in my eye because I don't go in there nearly 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. So, uh, >> I think it's slowly winding down for me a little bit already just in terms of the amount of times where the kids are like, can we just go there? You don't have anything to buy. You know, they're they're my kids are middle schoolers now, so that's like maybe not as, but it still happens. I still get those requests to just go hang out at Dicks. >> You you keep you keep telling yourself. You go. >> I way, you are gold. Thank you so much, sir, for joining us on the Bloomberg business of sports. We appreciate it. >> Always a pleasure. >> Up next, we turn to another company doing well in the growing business of youth sports. For Damian Sassau and Vanessa Pommo, I'm Michael Bar. You're listening to the Bloomberg business of sports, Bloomberg radio around the world. [Music] >> This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Bar. >> I'm Damen Salau. >> And I'm Vanessa Pomo. >> Team Snap is home to the largest online community for youth sports. >> It's a sports management platform, Michael Bar, with an audience of more than 25 million youth sports coaches, administrators, players, and parents and over 19,000 sports organizations. Joining us now to talk about the platform and how you sports is growing as an industry is team snap CEO Peter Franillis. >> Peter, welcome to the Bloomberg business of sports. >> Thanks for having me. Excited to be here. >> You are the CEO of Team Snap. What is that? >> So Team Snap is the leading technology platform for youth sports. Uh we are in the pockets and hands of over 25 million coaches, players, parents, administrators. Uh we've got nearly 20,000 clubs and leagues that use us to help organize their operations. And so think about us as um the connective technology platform for everything from registration, 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 uh very busy families and uh we are uh laser focused on trying to solve a lot of that chaos and using technology to make youth sports families lives easier. I could imagine that is an extremely helpful business. You know, I played sports my whole life. I could 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? I mean, it's a completely different ballgame. >> Yeah, look, this is a a massive market. I'm sure we're going to get into the discussion around the size and scale and and technology is um a driving factor in helping to facilitate much of that growth. You know, the company was started 15 years ago um with a very simple problem at that point. How do you how do you help parents and coaches solve the issue of showing up at the wrong field at the wrong time? >> And this was a a stage where you know, it sounds like younger parents, you know, like our generation were up and coming and, you know, I remember vast memories of the phone chain, right? And if you missed the phone chain, you didn't uh 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. Um, this was an offering that really caught like wildfire from a grassroots verality perspective. And over time, the company continued to evolve. I had the privilege of stepping in as CEO back in April of 21, so about four and a half years ago. Um I was part of a growth equity PE investment firm that uh acquired the business and 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 of our portfolio and and the reach that we continue to develop. >> Well Peter I really wish I had known about your app uh a few years back when I was in Chapua at a soccer match that was actually taking place in Newell. I mean like it was crazy but just hear me out here. You know it's such a brilliant idea. How 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, but it looks to be 10 to 25 per month per user. Is that about right? >> So, we have a couple different offerings. First, in terms of size and scale, right? We have over 25 million registered users. We have about 2 million on average using our platform on a daily basis, right? And so um 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. Um we do have a couple 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 um wants to buy our services. What you're looking at on our website is more so focused on the coach if they want to buy our um our mobile offering solely for the communication organization of their team. And then we have more of a traditional kind of SAS um subscription that's a B2B focused offering for the operators um and league owners and administrators. >> I'm impressed because you're getting a lot of corporate brands investing in sports. Yeah. And we're talking about like Jersey Mike and Toyota. Expand more on that. Look, we we estimate that youth sports is a $40 billion plus market at this time. Um, and on team Snap, given the millions of users we have, you know, these are typically heads of households, middle, upper income families. Our estimates is we have over $3 trillion of buying power alone just on our platform. And so that is an opportunity for brands and the affinity of those brands to really align themselves at a grassroots level in the community. um whether it be through our sponsorship offering. So allowing a um a Spectrum or 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 and putting them right back into the team, right? and allowing um those organizations to help subsidize whether it be the cost of registration fees, equipment um but really aligning their brand with the most emotional times of a uh a sport families week, right? Which is when the kids are on the field on court on the rink um and they see us and we are one of the large the largest channel across you sports in order to marry those large brands up um with the grassroots organizations across this country. 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. We see it a lot. We're seeing it a lot more in sports in general. 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 10% of an NFL team will cost you a billion dollars but if the youth sports market is $40 billion on its own is that a easier quicker ROI or you know what what are your thoughts on the investment part in youth sports? >> So I 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 the programming, right? So those clubs, leagues, organizations that are providing the programming of sport um with the software and technology side, which is 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 had the luxury at at team snapier to partner with a great um growth equity firm called Wad Capital out of Chicago. It's very bullish about the growth trajectory of this business. Um 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 um 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 start to get into kind of the 100 million uh 500 million plus valuations um that can help to justify that level of return. >> Well Peter 4 million monthly active users 2 million daily active users. I think team snap processed nearly $1 billion in payments in 2025 year to date. I mean I just it's so brilliant what you've done here for me. 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 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 Truist than JP Morgan if your son was playing with a little truest on his the back of his jersey? I don't know. I mean, I think I might I think I think it does make a difference. >> I'm going to bring up bowling again. If I had my sponsor like I have on my bowling shirt, guess where I'm going to buy the car? >> I mean, are you seeing that, Peter, too? Are you seeing it actually changing the buying behavior of parents and households? >> Yeah, look, we, you know, through our sponsorship, we've invested heavily in a technology platform to help show the attribution and 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? 40% improvement in terms of brand recognition. Um, over 40% improvement in brand affinity and the emotional connection that those families that had been sponsored or um because we are also kind of, you know, geofencing fields and being able to show the foot traffic. It's there's a halo effect um no different than professional collegiate sponsorship that takes place, right? If a team is going in um to a tournament over the weekend and there's a thousand teams participating, that's a significant visibility uh of that brand that's front and center of saying, "Hey, okay, you know, this brand cares about our kids. This this brand cares about our community." Um and the data proves 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 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 uh focus to down to coaching, right? developed an entire coaching suite of content, think skills and drills that were highly produced so that volunteer coaches, which is also a huge shortage and challenge here in the country, um can feel more confident in what they're doing each day and each week even if they didn't coach in that uh specific sport, right? And so helping to arm those coaches through an entire offering um then in partnership with those professional leagues that is really geared on improving the quality of coaching across this country. 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 and one life to live and get out of the way. General Hospital is coming on after that. We don't have that time anymore. It's And this this whole thing that you are behind seems to help parents very well. >> Yeah. And um we acquired a business called Mojo Sports about a year and a half, just over a year and a half ago. Um and Mojo was started by two co-founders, Reed Shaner and Ben Sherwood. Ben uh you guys might know the name, ran all of Disney, um television, ABC television under Bob Iger for a decade plus worldwide. And you know, he left in 2019 and his two kids were young teenagers. And he thought there's got to be a better way to bring the the Disney production level of media into youth sports. um and created an entire media platform from all 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 at work at 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 a kid's running across the field. It's for that four to 14year-old kind of the Disney family 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 60-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 12 to 15 billion dollars here in the US and it's one of the largest sports stream markets that no one's talking about. Um, and we're going to go hard after it and 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. >> Our thanks to Peter Frenzilis for joining us. He's chief executive officer of the youth sports management platform Team SNAP. >> And hey now, thank you for joining us. For my colleagues Damen Sassau and Vanessa Pomo, I'm Michael Bar. Tune in again next week for the latest on the stories moving big old money in the world of sports. And don't forget to subscribe to our podcast so you never miss an episode. 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Trump Warns Boston, LA of Relocating Major Events, TeamSnap CEO Peter Frintzilas | Bloomberg…
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This is the business of sports. >> Sports are the greatest unscripted show on earth. The next generation of players really grew up with tech and believe in tech. >> Your face is your ticket. Your face is your wallet. Your face is your access to a club. >> These are such iconic and important buildings for businesses, for fans. >> Co was one of the best things that ever happened to golf. >> The NFL is a bulletproof business. >> Racing's unique because there is absolutely no reason why we can't compete with the guys. >> Come on. Is pro pickle ball real? Are people really going to tune in to this? If you're playing Moneyball with a huge bag of money, you're going to be really, really good. >> Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. >> This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports, where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Bar. >> I'm Damian Sassau. >> And I'm Vanessa Pomo. Coming up, we'll talk youth sports and a sports tech platform that supports over 25 million coaches, players, parents, and administrators across the country. >> We'll also get under the hood at Dick Sporting Goods and figure out what is exactly driving its success relative to its competitors. >> All that is on the way, but first, President Donald Trump is warning some cities that he could take some major international sports events away from them. At a White House event earlier this week, the president told reporters that he would consider moving the 2026 FIFA World Cup out of Boston and shift the 2028 Olympics from Los Angeles if he thought the cities weren't properly prepared or if conditions were unsafe. >> Here's the president on that issue. >> 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." And he would do that. He wouldn't 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 if I thought Boston was doing something that was going to be cause safety conditions for the uh you know, World Cup, I could say the same thing for the Olympics because, you know, we have events that are in different locations for the Olympics. It's based in LA. Uh if I thought LA was not going to be prepared properly, I would move it to another location if I had to. For more on this and what having these events mean to places like Boston and Los Angeles, we welcome Bloomberg Street Taylor who has done reporting on this. Welcome to the Bloomberg business of sports. >> Thanks for having me back. >> Let's just start from the beginning. Can he take away the games? >> 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 are international contracts. It would seem like I know him and Giani Infentino, the FIFA president, are very chummy. Um so maybe he could kind of work that and and and get the FIFA president to to move it if he if he desired. But um the president himself um as far as we know cannot move it. It's just too far along. >> 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 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 the Olympics, but they're fine to host the World Cup next year? >> Um, I think that he is just kind of going for anything he can when it comes to these blue cities. Um, you know, this isn't the first time he's targeted Boston or LA, um, or or, you know, Newsome or, um, Boston Mayor Michelle Woo. So, he has been trying to crack down in any way he can on them not complying with his mandates that he's brought up, you know, whether it's about immigration or or, you know, just general crime or anything. He's kind of he's kind of gotten some friction uh 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 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 2028 Olympics. Um, which takes years and years and years of preparation. There are nations involved like across the globe. So, it's not just about the US and it's not just about what Trump wants. Everyone kind of has a stake in this specifically um 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 uh 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." >> Well, I mean I mean Siri, I I I take your point on the operational infeasibility of moving an event such as this. They take that, you know, that that's writ. 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 Newsome can't protect them from wildfires. My point is if the president fears for the safety of I don't know the citizens of Boston. I mean can't can he legally just stop it. Can't he do that? >> Of course he can. You know, he can propose it, right? >> But Trump can basically say he's going to do anything, >> right? >> Uh you know I guess with the transit projects, like for example, with congestion pricing, he said, "I'm going to stop that." and and you know you know he was sued like the courts got together and were like actually no we're going to block this from happening. So there is intervention um that will likely take place 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 it are already preparing to to um to come here for for the game. So, it's just not feasible. Is it legal? >> That's still kind of up for debate. >> 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 Shri, tell me like what you think on that. Is it 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. I think that is the situation. I think that's been the situation for a lot of um entities and politicians and cities and states that have been targeted by Trump on just virtually anything. Um 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 because this is kind of unprecedented like they they don't even know if this is a possibility or how this would go, how long it would take. um you know what's 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. >> Well, I see that's the thing I 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 make with the World Cup? >> So Boston itself is expecting to get a 1.1 billion uh economic you know windfall from this. So it's and I think LA with the Olympics um not even the World Cup but with the Olympics I think LA as a city is expecting about 18 billion up to 18 billion from from uh some projections that I've seen. So there's 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 regions. Um, even even if temporarily, like it's creating jobs and and you know, the hotel sector and and you know, the hospitality sector is going to see like a a big boost. Um, and I just don't think that not only is it not feasible um to kind of just do it overnight, but it is detrimental to the cities. Um, so I think that Trump is trying to scare blue cities and their leaders, which he kind of has been doing. Austin has been um you know kind of a punching bag for I mean this whole year when it comes to um just like a swath of his policies. So um I'm not surprised that he has targeted Boston in this in this situation. Um I'm sure if you know he's targeted Chicago and he's and he's targeted um Portland if we're trying to see a pattern here. It's all blue cities um and blue states where he's like you know you don't agree with me. You're not complying. um I'm going to find a way to hit you where it hurts. >> Right. >> Um if he can actually do that in time and derail something that's happening in mere months >> um I would be very very surprised if he was able to to really get this off course. >> Well, it would have to happen very soon 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 who would actually like is it the matter of any one basically with an NFL stadium could step up and be like, "Hey, we're ready." >> Well, in all fairness, >> these these cities kind of put in their bid when Biden when the Biden administration was was was still in the White House. So, um you know, this has been long before Trump. So, I do think that, you know, in these 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 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. >> Vegas. >> Look I mean you make a great point in that preparation is everything. The amount of money that's already been invested to get these cities game ready. I mean it's it's I mean it's a lot of money already. We're talking tens if not you know more millions of dollars. And and so look at what you know the federal government has just done to the city of New York. You know withholding funds for the trans big transit project. That's$ 188 billion. I mean right there. So it's not like we can discount that this can't happen >> 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 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 I'm gonna follow my team or I'm planning on being in Seattle or or you know so on and so forth. So, it has already trickled down to the fans. So, that's not going to go over well either. Um, and to your point about Trump and how he's kind of, you know, set out to to pause these transit, you know, projects in in Chicago and and and and New York. Um, you know, he can withhold the funding for sure. But what I've heard um in my reporting on that is that a lot of these projects when Trump was coming into office, they were like, "We're gonna try to really hit the ground running and 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 >> they're leaning into for the next few, >> right? They're like, "We have enough financial runway that it's going to be too late for him to step in and be like, "Never mind." So that's what um that's kind of the posturing I think with a lot of these uh with with New York specifically and also Chicago. Um and I think that's the same situation here. There's just too much they're too far along to where it would just not be um operationally feasible. Our thanks to Bloomberg Shri Taylor for joining us. >> Coming up on the show, we turn to what Dick Sporting Goods is doing right >> for Damian Sassau and Vanessa Bdomo. I'm Michael Bar. You are listening to the Bloomberg business of sports from Bloomberg radio around the world. >> This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. >> This is the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Bar. >> I'm Damen Sassau. >> And I'm Vanessa PMO. >> Dick Sporting Goods is doing something right. They've added a ton of stores at a time where online shopping is dominating sales and a lot of it has to do with parents spending money on kids sports. Bloomberg News Global Business of Sports reporter Ira Budwway has a new Bloomberg Business Week feature that takes a closer look at what's going right with Dick Sporting Goods and he is here now to talk to us about it. Ira, welcome back to the Bloomberg Business of Sports. >> Thank you. You wrote an article, a great essay. The secret to Dick Sporting Goods $13 billion boom. Well, what's the secret? >> The secret is people like me spending more money than they should because their kids play sports and they are constantly at dicks. Um, 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 um but I you look back at I you know look back at my own spending there because it's all tracked by their loyalty app and it's like 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 fast. >> 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 story sporting goods stores. Why do people go in person? 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 the other sporting good chains have died so they've done other things. I used to spend my whole life there. >> 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 in three sizes and send the two back kind of thing. >> Well, Ira, let's put some numbers around just exactly the scale of Dick. Starting out in Bingmpington, but I mean now it's got what 720 stores. Annual sales have doubled to 13 billion since 2019. Profits have tripled over the period and they just announced their intention to purchase Foot Locker. Yeah. So I mean for me I mean like where's all the money coming from? Is it really coming from just us? What's the demographic? Like who what's their sweet spot? Who are they catering to? >> 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 Yeti 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, their uh longtime CEO, the son of Dick Stack, the founder, he said, "Look, we we we want to serve that customer who's at the middle to lower middle, but really our core is the upper middle demographic." Well, I think what was so interesting was I mean you you met with the son of the founder, son of Dickstack and in the early days when they were deciding I mean get this one Vanessa when they were deciding where to build a dicks they looked for Best Buys. Is that right? And like Ulta I don't think Ulta beauty but they look for like where the foot traffic was there and then they went around the town. Is that right? To look for like people building playsets or building pools or something. I mean is that right? Is that >> Yeah. He said it was two things. They started with where's where's a Best Buy cuz that's just like a good proxy for like they've done their homework, right? Um and then they would drive around the neighborhood where there was a Best Buy and just look for swing sets in yards. Brilliant. Because that was a sign of kids and they know that families are just so key to their business. So that's they they know that like when I told him how old my kids were, I have an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old. They both play a lot of sports. >> He was like, "Well, we love families that age cuz you're going to be doing this for a long time." you know, and he knows he's had he had five kids uh who all played sports. He's kind of done with that part of his life, but uh he knew exactly, you know, how he >> well well I mean Michael Bar knows this. You know, we're we're in the world of finance here and you know, if you look back into the early days of mortgage back securities and things like that, you know, you'll ask people at Black Rockck 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. They're going to prepay on their mortgage. Let's buy these bonds." Right? So, I mean, it works, you know? I mean, come on, Michael Bar. Well, it it the philosophy works well. And and this is something else I didn't know. Yes. Cuz I'm stupid because, you know, I didn't realize this. The Dicks House of Sports Stories, they're double the size of the standard locations. I I didn't even realize there was a sports store, so to speak. Well, what is that? >> This is a new concept. Uh they have started to they described as sort of disrupting their own business. They tried to build a store that was better than what they had. Uh, and they've done about 20 of them. And so I went down to the one near Pittsburgh near their headquarters. Uh, where they've bought they used the shell of an old Sears. So it's more than 100,000 square feet. And what they've done is they've added rock climbing walls. Uh, 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 there just horsing around with stuff. And I'm sure that for like store managers it's a headache but they're trying to turn that bug into a feature, right? They 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 uh it's a it's a pretty clever strategy. I saw one the other day that had the turf field on the outside and I was b I was so confused and I was like did they just put a random like soccer field on this? >> Do you remember the McDonald's? The McDonald's that used to have a whole >> 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? >> They It's interesting how they program it. They will invite like leagues and camps to come. But they said that that in 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 if you're looking to buy a bicycle from them, they will bring you up and put you on the track and you can ride it around there. So they they've found a lot of ways to use it. Um and customers have already kind of discovered it and it's bringing people there just to just to play. >> Yeah, that's crazy. And I mean I think the other thing that we really need to know here is like last year parents spent more than $40 billion on their kids in youth sports, right? And it's an increase from 46% since 20 2019. But that can't just be like pandemic spending, right? Like why why such a big increase do 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 cost more. You have sliding mits, you have heart shirts, you have all this extra equipment, elbow guards that I I never had as a kid. And so the the sort of baseline cost and then what you can spend if you want to go for it. The deluxe is both have gone up a lot. 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 I mean, they've 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. You know, what is game changer? I mean, you know, we heard about Dick's, you know, investment in Unrivaled, the youth sports conglomerate, you know, Blitzer, Harrison, all that stuff. What else are they doing to approach that youth sports segment? >> 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 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 scorebook. But it's grown into something where you can watch the game. You can, you know, hang your phone behind the back stop and then grandma at home can watch your the kids game and all these other features that, you know, registering for tournaments, keeping track of rosters and so on. So Dicks bought that and it allows them to sync it up with their loyalty program for instance and they can when you open Game Changer they can try to sell you the bat that they know you're going to need. >> And um it they told me that you know the person who has both their loyalty scorecard app and game changer spends twice as much as the person who just has the loyalty app. So they know >> they track their movements, right? Like if they have a game in, you know, 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 dick down there like, "Hey, we know you're going to maybe need some extra balls or extra batting gloves or whatever >> or a hotel options." Yeah. And so between Game Changer and Unrivaled, which runs leagues and camps, they kind of can watch the whole journey uh and have a lot of ways to, you know, target customers and sell to them and and keep in touch. 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 soap. >> You don't want Yeah. You don't want to carry a can of beer and let everybody see it. You need to, right, Michael? You know, you know the trick. >> Oh, yeah. The products that they sell, it's a lot. Now, last time I went to, by the way, a message to the Dicks, sell more bowling equipment >> cuz I went to a Dick one time and they said, "No, we're not going to sell any more bowling equipment." >> And I'm like, "All right." So, but but they have really done one whale of a job, Ira, in in cornering the market, and I have to salute them on that. >> Yeah. 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 1015 years. 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 chism who wears like bright colored stuff that is really changing that for them? Yeah, it's sort of like it's a social media phenomenon. I think in part Savannah 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. Uh 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. So, uh it's thriving in that regard. 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 Dixs and White Plains New York, I actually get a little bit of a tear in my eye because I don't go in there nearly 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. So, uh, >> I think it's slowly winding down for me a little bit already just in terms of the amount of times where the kids are like, can we just go there? You don't have anything to buy. You know, they're they're my kids are middle schoolers now, so that's like maybe not as, but it still happens. I still get those requests to just go hang out at Dicks. >> You you keep you keep telling yourself. You go. >> I way, you are gold. Thank you so much, sir, for joining us on the Bloomberg business of sports. We appreciate it. >> Always a pleasure. >> Up next, we turn to another company doing well in the growing business of youth sports. For Damian Sassau and Vanessa Pommo, I'm Michael Bar. You're listening to the Bloomberg business of sports, Bloomberg radio around the world. [Music] >> This is Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Thanks for joining us on the Bloomberg Business of Sports where we explore the big money issues in the world of sports. I'm Michael Bar. >> I'm Damen Salau. >> And I'm Vanessa Pomo. >> Team Snap is home to the largest online community for youth sports. >> It's a sports management platform, Michael Bar, with an audience of more than 25 million youth sports coaches, administrators, players, and parents and over 19,000 sports organizations. Joining us now to talk about the platform and how you sports is growing as an industry is team snap CEO Peter Franillis. >> Peter, welcome to the Bloomberg business of sports. >> Thanks for having me. Excited to be here. >> You are the CEO of Team Snap. What is that? >> So Team Snap is the leading technology platform for youth sports. Uh we are in the pockets and hands of over 25 million coaches, players, parents, administrators. Uh we've got nearly 20,000 clubs and leagues that use us to help organize their operations. And so think about us as um the connective technology platform for everything from registration, 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 uh very busy families and uh we are uh laser focused on trying to solve a lot of that chaos and using technology to make youth sports families lives easier. I could imagine that is an extremely helpful business. You know, I played sports my whole life. I could 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? I mean, it's a completely different ballgame. >> Yeah, look, this is a a massive market. I'm sure we're going to get into the discussion around the size and scale and and technology is um a driving factor in helping to facilitate much of that growth. You know, the company was started 15 years ago um with a very simple problem at that point. How do you how do you help parents and coaches solve the issue of showing up at the wrong field at the wrong time? >> And this was a a stage where you know, it sounds like younger parents, you know, like our generation were up and coming and, you know, I remember vast memories of the phone chain, right? And if you missed the phone chain, you didn't uh 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. Um, this was an offering that really caught like wildfire from a grassroots verality perspective. And over time, the company continued to evolve. I had the privilege of stepping in as CEO back in April of 21, so about four and a half years ago. Um I was part of a growth equity PE investment firm that uh acquired the business and 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 of our portfolio and and the reach that we continue to develop. >> Well Peter I really wish I had known about your app uh a few years back when I was in Chapua at a soccer match that was actually taking place in Newell. I mean like it was crazy but just hear me out here. You know it's such a brilliant idea. How 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, but it looks to be 10 to 25 per month per user. Is that about right? >> So, we have a couple different offerings. First, in terms of size and scale, right? We have over 25 million registered users. We have about 2 million on average using our platform on a daily basis, right? And so um 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. Um we do have a couple 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 um wants to buy our services. What you're looking at on our website is more so focused on the coach if they want to buy our um our mobile offering solely for the communication organization of their team. And then we have more of a traditional kind of SAS um subscription that's a B2B focused offering for the operators um and league owners and administrators. >> I'm impressed because you're getting a lot of corporate brands investing in sports. Yeah. And we're talking about like Jersey Mike and Toyota. Expand more on that. Look, we we estimate that youth sports is a $40 billion plus market at this time. Um, and on team Snap, given the millions of users we have, you know, these are typically heads of households, middle, upper income families. Our estimates is we have over $3 trillion of buying power alone just on our platform. And so that is an opportunity for brands and the affinity of those brands to really align themselves at a grassroots level in the community. um whether it be through our sponsorship offering. So allowing a um a Spectrum or 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 and putting them right back into the team, right? and allowing um those organizations to help subsidize whether it be the cost of registration fees, equipment um but really aligning their brand with the most emotional times of a uh a sport families week, right? Which is when the kids are on the field on court on the rink um and they see us and we are one of the large the largest channel across you sports in order to marry those large brands up um with the grassroots organizations across this country. 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. We see it a lot. We're seeing it a lot more in sports in general. 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 10% of an NFL team will cost you a billion dollars but if the youth sports market is $40 billion on its own is that a easier quicker ROI or you know what what are your thoughts on the investment part in youth sports? >> So I 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 the programming, right? So those clubs, leagues, organizations that are providing the programming of sport um with the software and technology side, which is 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 had the luxury at at team snapier to partner with a great um growth equity firm called Wad Capital out of Chicago. It's very bullish about the growth trajectory of this business. Um 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 um 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 start to get into kind of the 100 million uh 500 million plus valuations um that can help to justify that level of return. >> Well Peter 4 million monthly active users 2 million daily active users. I think team snap processed nearly $1 billion in payments in 2025 year to date. I mean I just it's so brilliant what you've done here for me. 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 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 Truist than JP Morgan if your son was playing with a little truest on his the back of his jersey? I don't know. I mean, I think I might I think I think it does make a difference. >> I'm going to bring up bowling again. If I had my sponsor like I have on my bowling shirt, guess where I'm going to buy the car? >> I mean, are you seeing that, Peter, too? Are you seeing it actually changing the buying behavior of parents and households? >> Yeah, look, we, you know, through our sponsorship, we've invested heavily in a technology platform to help show the attribution and 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? 40% improvement in terms of brand recognition. Um, over 40% improvement in brand affinity and the emotional connection that those families that had been sponsored or um because we are also kind of, you know, geofencing fields and being able to show the foot traffic. It's there's a halo effect um no different than professional collegiate sponsorship that takes place, right? If a team is going in um to a tournament over the weekend and there's a thousand teams participating, that's a significant visibility uh of that brand that's front and center of saying, "Hey, okay, you know, this brand cares about our kids. This this brand cares about our community." Um and the data proves 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 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 uh focus to down to coaching, right? developed an entire coaching suite of content, think skills and drills that were highly produced so that volunteer coaches, which is also a huge shortage and challenge here in the country, um can feel more confident in what they're doing each day and each week even if they didn't coach in that uh specific sport, right? And so helping to arm those coaches through an entire offering um then in partnership with those professional leagues that is really geared on improving the quality of coaching across this country. 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 and one life to live and get out of the way. General Hospital is coming on after that. We don't have that time anymore. It's And this this whole thing that you are behind seems to help parents very well. >> Yeah. And um we acquired a business called Mojo Sports about a year and a half, just over a year and a half ago. Um and Mojo was started by two co-founders, Reed Shaner and Ben Sherwood. Ben uh you guys might know the name, ran all of Disney, um television, ABC television under Bob Iger for a decade plus worldwide. And you know, he left in 2019 and his two kids were young teenagers. And he thought there's got to be a better way to bring the the Disney production level of media into youth sports. um and created an entire media platform from all 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 at work at 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 a kid's running across the field. It's for that four to 14year-old kind of the Disney family 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 60-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 12 to 15 billion dollars here in the US and it's one of the largest sports stream markets that no one's talking about. Um, and we're going to go hard after it and 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. >> Our thanks to Peter Frenzilis for joining us. He's chief executive officer of the youth sports management platform Team SNAP. >> And hey now, thank you for joining us. For my colleagues Damen Sassau and Vanessa Pomo, I'm Michael Bar. Tune in again next week for the latest on the stories moving big old money in the world of sports. And don't forget to subscribe to our podcast so you never miss an episode. 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