2026 Youth Sports Predictions: A Mid-Year Checkpoint

2026 Youth Sports Predictions: A Mid-Year Checkpoint

On today’s episode we check back in on the Youth Sports predictions we made in January, now that we’re at the halfway point. How many did we get right and how many have we been flat out wrong about so far? We look into the state of international expansion, government legislation, flag football infrastructure, and the SportsEngine sale. Later in the episode, we'll have more predictions for rest of 2026 centered around The Savannah Bananas, interoperability, sports academies, and plenty more. 0:00 - Youth Sports Expands Internationally 7:52 - An Elite High School Football Platform Launches 8:52 - Governments Will Tackle Affordability 11:28 - Organized Pickup Becomes A Hot Trend 16:16 - Parents Pushback On Specialization 19:39 - A Title IX-based Challenge to the House Settlement 22:03 - Sportstainment Grows 25:59 - Flag & Volleyball Increase Infrastructure 27:24 - Versant Will Partially Sell SportsEngine 30:25 - A Youth Sports Credit Card Is Introduced 32:18 - More Predictions For The Rest Of 2026 Follow Us: Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.buyingsandlot.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/buying-sandlot/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buyingsandlot TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buyingsandlot

From DARPA to Youth Sports: SportsVisio's Sports Analytic Revolution

A former hacker and DARPA program manager Jason Syversen launched SportsVisio after an 8-figure exit from his cybersecurity company. SportsVisio brings computer vision and AI to youth sports and helps teams, clubs, schools, and facilities automatically capture games, generate highlights and box scores, and track stats typically only available to the highest levels. We talk about the product, democratizing sports analytics, why AI-generated highlights are becoming a must-have rather than a nice-to-have, trends in youth sports & facilities (he also owns a 30,000 sq. ft. sports complex), the role youth sports plays in national security, and future funding plans. 0:00 - Target Customers & Subsidizing Sports Data 7:13 - Achieving 99% Stat Accuracy & AI Coaching 16:39 - Trends In Youth Sports & Facilities 25:17 - Recruiting, Brands, & National Security 34:35 - Future Funding Plans & Expansions Follow Us: Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.buyingsandlot.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/buying-sandlot/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buyingsandlot TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buyingsandlot

Building A Gig Economy For Youth Sports Referees

Huck Sorock, Co-Founder and CEO of Refr Sports, is one of the fastest-growing companies in the officiating technology space. A former hockey player and referee, Huck experienced firsthand the challenges officials face—from inefficient scheduling and long payment delays to the broader referee shortage impacting youth sports across the country. We talked about how technology is changing officiating, the referee shortage, why assigners hold so much influence, and why Huck believes officials represent one of the biggest infrastructure opportunities in the entire sports industry. 0:00 - Identifying Tech Inefficiencies in Reffing 8:04 - Market Data: Age, Pay, Games & More 15:38 - Relationships, Distribution, & Scale 21:01 - Thoughts On NGB & Rec Partnerships 25:16 - How to Combat a Ref Shortage 30:12 - How Far Away is Ai Officiating? 32:38 - Community Building & Instant Cash Outs 37:25 - Funding Journey & Business Growth Follow Us: Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.buyingsandlot.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/buying-sandlot/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buyingsandlot TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buyingsandlot

The Futures App: Home Base for Youth Sports

Jake Hirabayashi, founder and CEO of The Futures App, talks about his all-in-one youth sports technology platform focused on: team management, training delivery, and athlete development. During this interview we dive deeper into the player development modules, expanding to new sports, his thoughts on interoperability, and a new partnership with CURVE sports. 0:00 - Training Modules & Player Development 7:14 - Expansion Into Different Sports 8:35 - Interoperability & Payment Solutions 12:27 - Partnership With Curve Sports 14:51 - Funding Journey & Future Raises Follow Us: Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.buyingsandlot.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/buying-sandlot/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buyingsandlot TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buyingsandlot

A Deep Dive into TPH Academy's Model with Steve Sanders

New Chief Growth Officer at TPH Academy, Steve Sanders, talks about the innovative day school model, growth opportunities in a variety of club sports, education trends, new revenue streams, and the emerging legislation. 0:00 - Premium Community Update! 3:42 - Why Steve Left For Tph & His New Role 6:03 - TPH Academy's Sports, Club, And Day School Model 10:46 - Sports Academy Opportunity & Demand 17:54 - EdTech, NIL Literacy, & NCAA Compliance 26:13 - Partnerships, Growth, & Flag Pathways 32:58 - Market Size, Consolidation, & New Revenue Streams 41:06 - Tourney Shifts, Private Equity, & Brand Partnerships Thanks to EventConnect for sponsoring the episode. Run your entire tournament on one operating system — or connect the tools you already use. Grow room nights, end spreadsheet chaos, and keep every datapoint in one place with live pace for hotels, impact for CVBs, and a smoother path for families. Check out the Operating System of Youth Sports at https://eventconnectsports.com/ Follow Us: Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.buyingsandlot.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/buying-sandlot/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buyingsandlot TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@buyingsandlot