Bloomberg Surveillance · Friday, July 10, 2026
The cost of youth sports has increased by 46% over the last five years, with the industry now valued at over $40 billion. This rise is attributed to private equity investment seeking profit maximization and the acceleration provided by technology, such as apps like GameChanger, which allow for highlight reel creation and direct scouting, increasing competition and specialization.
“The US team's loss of Belgium in the World Cup has revived this growing concern among Americans, which is a rising cost of youth sports. According to one estimate from the Aspen Institute, Family spending on youth sports is up forty six percent over the last five years.”
“I mean, when private equity gets into something, of course, they want to maximize profit, and that's not always a good thing for youth sports. People think of youth sports as the level before college sports, and college sports of course is welcoming private equity as well, but with NIL with a bunch of different mechanisms, it's sort of the amateur level, and I think youth sports isn't meant to be that, but it's becoming that because you can identify talent earlier on, which therefore could lead to brand collaborations and so many other things. Is a huge industry that we're saying private equity get into, get into, and other investors as well.”
“Well, it's interesting like when I was growing up, like my dad and my mom would have a film camera that they would shoot it for, but that was just for fun, Like I had my aspirations of going to the NFL ended at fifteen. But now you have people using apps like game Changer, which you can literally just film the entire thing, create a highlight reel for your child, and then email it.”