Earlier today, we announced a significant investment into LeagueApps led by a leading technology-focused investment firm, Accel-KKR, with participation from Contour Venture Partners and Arctos Partners, a private investment fund dedicated to the sports industry with investments in 25 professional sports franchises, and the continued participation of existing investor and youth sports leaders including Julie Foudy, Shane Battier, Swin Cash, Dhani Jones, and Derrick Dockery.  If you’re interested in the news release, you can read the full announcement here.  

We wanted to share our thoughts on why we proactively decided to go down this investment path, what we want to accomplish in this next phase, and what it means for the organizations, families and communities we serve. 

While we collaborate with many stakeholders in youth sports, we’re addressing this message to our partners: the youth sports operators who work tirelessly and selflessly to make sports happen; that give up nights and weekends to make sure the facilities are open, the fields are ready, the coaches are trained, the technology decisions made, the parents are supported, and the kids are delivered amazing sports experiences. The LeagueApps story is your story.  

Our Shared Why

The immortal words of Nelson Mandela have graced the wall of every LeagueApps office we’ve inhabited:  

“Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all types of discrimination.”

The impact of sport is not theoretical for all of us. We each feel this deeply. Our experiences playing and organizing sports have developed our character, sparked friendships, shaped our leadership styles and given us enumerable advantages in life. As parents, and now even coaches, we see those benefits conferred on our own children and in our communities. 

That’s why our mission became to deliver amazing sports experiences for all. 

And why our vision embraced the ambition of being the most impactful company in youth sports, to strengthen and serve an industry that powers youth and local sports experiences for all kids and communities. 

Partnership by Design 

When we started LeagueApps nearly 15 years ago, we recognized that if our mission is to deliver amazing sports experiences, we can only realize that mission in partnership with the sports organizations that make sports happen every day. 

It is why we’ve oriented everything we do through the frame of serving you and the organizations you lead. 

Our shared mission is ingrained in our business model, succeeding only when you did: if we could provide you technology and community, serve you, support you, free up your time to focus on delivering amazing, and enable you to realize your aspirations, then our success would follow.  

The growth of our business that makes this next phase possible – the tens of millions participants we help you serve, the billions of dollars of programming fees you have collected to hire the coaches and build your fields and run your events – is really the story of the success of tens of thousands of youth sports leaders who are impacting millions of kids and strive daily to better themselves and our community. 

The best way we know how to show our gratitude and appreciation is to double down on our commitment to being a more valuable partner to you to make sports happen. We are driven by deep conviction that our industry is continuing to evolve, and that we can provide even more solutions and a deeper community to let you thrive in ways that allow families and communities  

Investors As Teammates 

As leaders of a growing business that is firmly established as a market leader, we are in a position to author the next chapter of our company. 

Establishing a new investment partnership is a natural part of our evolution. We wanted to achieve the sustainability of our mission by aligning with new partners that were committed to our belief in the imperative for innovation in youth sports, and could help us achieve our lofty vision to be the most influential organization in sports. 

Our lead investor is a technology-focused investment firm, Accel-KKR that have a track record of partnering with founders and supporting market-leading technology companies that are committed to innovation and success. They are our people – that appreciate our values, our mission, and our desire to better serve this industry. 

Arctos Partners will bring unique expertise and influence among professional sports, with investments in over 25 professional sports franchises, that will enable us to better serve the youth sports initiatives of MLB, NBA, NHL, PLL, and over 60+ professional sports teams, and enable more connectivity in support of youth sports organizations and their families. 

Contour Venture Partners will continue to be part of the next phase of LeagueApps. They have been an instrumental LeagueApps investor and supporter.

Additional investors include the funds of Hamilton Lane as well as sports and business leaders who have deepened their commitment to LeagueApps and the youth sports industry, including Julie Foudy, Shane Battier, Swin Cash, Dhani Jones, Nancy and Arn Tellem, and Derrick Dockery. 

What this Means for our Youth Sports Partners

We now have partners that are the ideal fit for supporting how we want to evolve our industry by providing more solutions, technology, and data to youth sports communities. 

This will give us capabilities and resources that enhance our ability to serve organizations that are central to the youth sports experience. As a learning organization, we look forward to drawing upon their years of experience supporting great software businesses and innovating the sports industry. 

We’re excited to expand the ways in which we will better serve youth sports communities. To name a few:

• Deepening our core program management capabilities across registration, payments, scheduling, member management, communications, marketing and branding, and (more recently) facility management 
• Becoming the preferred partner for leading tournament operators in end-to-end tournament management needs
• Deepening engagement of and streamlining communication between coaches, parents, and players with our partners through the LeagueApps Play mobile app
• Unlocking key insights for our partners that drive growth and operational efficiencies with the youth sports industry’s leading analytics platform – LeagueApps Analytics
• Bringing enterprise-level technology, data, advisory, and support services to premier youth sports organizations having impact on a national scale
• Identifying additional investments in innovation and partnerships to impact how youth sports organizations manage every aspect of their business in ways that save time, money and unlock growth
• Expanding investments in our leadership of the youth sports industry, such as our NextUp event taking place next week that represents the single largest gathering of youth sports operators across sports annually

As much as things will change, we’re also excited by what will stay the same.  

A value-oriented culture to service our partners rooted in our Sportsdog values. 

Our commitment to our mission through our FundPlay program, now officially a 501c3 non-profit FundPlay Foundation that intends to provide 500,000 more youth sport experiences in the next two years.  

And above all, the championship-caliber LeagueApps team – over 100 people who inspire us with their commitment to serving our partners and unleashing the potential of sport. We’re excited to continue to lead this company and help our team capitalize on new opportunities to further their development and careers. 

We are proud of this moment, humbled by the trust that you’ve demonstrated in us through the years, grateful for your partnership, and energized by what more we can do together to harness  the incredible power of sport. 

Play forever,

Brian and Jeremy