Provided by Unrivaled Sports
Unrivaled Sports has acquired national youth league Under the Lights as the newly formed company continues its rapid expansion with investment from Chernin Group.
Last month, Josh Harris and David Blitzer launched Unrivaled with an investment from TCG. This included an accumulation of youth sports assets purchased by the longtime sports team owner over the past two years. Private equity giants are aggressively acquiring “diamond” sports facilities such as Cooperstown All-Star Village, Ripken Baseball and Diamond Nation, but they are building an ecosystem around flag football. We also anticipate similar opportunities.
“One of our goals at Unrivaled is to bring the field of flag football on par with what we've built in baseball,” Amanda Shank, Unrivaled's vice president of business development, said in a video interview. . She said: “We think it has that potential.”
This is Unrivaled's second flag football purchase. In December, the company invested $10 million for a majority stake in the Forever Lawn Sports Complex in Hall of Fame Village in Canton, Ohio. Mr Shank expects further investment into the sport over the next 12 months.
Unrivaled plans to hire someone to lead its football operations in a role similar to Wade Martin's role as CEO of baseball assets.
Under the Lights operates 170 local flag football leagues involving 35,000 boys and girls in grades 1-8 and hosts events for more than 5,000 teams in 27 states.
Purchase terms were not disclosed.
Flag football's popularity has skyrocketed over the past decade as parents choose to send their children to what is considered a safer form of soccer. About 2.4 million children participated in organized flag football last year, according to the International Federation of American Football. This includes nearly 500,000 girls, an increase of 63% from 2019. Universities are creating more flag football programs and even offering scholarships to women at the NAIA level. Flag football will be an Olympic sport in Los Angeles in 2028.
“With the addition of flag football to LA28, we have a unique opportunity to shape the future of the sport at youth level over the next four years and beyond,” said Unrivaled Chairman and LA28 Board Member. Andy Campion said. statement.
Under the Lights was founded in 2015 and acquired by OneTeam Partners six years later. OneTeam, which has licensing agreements with multiple professional sports league federations including the NFLPA, will retain a minority ownership interest in Under the Lights.
“We think the NFL's depth could be a differentiator for some leagues and programs,” Shank said.
Under Armor is the league's naming partner and provides a full range of gear for athletes. UA is also the exclusive apparel company for Unrivaled's baseball division, so the relationship is likely to continue. Current Under the Lights executives Matt Raab and Tyisha Smith will join Unrivaled's operations team.
Unrivaled currently has 15 youth sports facilities in its portfolio. The company expects to welcome 635,000 athletes and more than 1.4 million participants to its venues annually.
