Private travel leagues have made youth sports expensive, hypercompetitive, and all-consuming for families. At least investors are making a killing.
The Pay-to-Play Childhood
Private leagues have made youth sports expensive, hypercompetitive, and all-consuming. Investors are making a killing.
By
Caitlin Moscatello,
a contributing writer at New York Magazine.
For-profit companies are buying up the rituals of American childhood and selling them back to parents.
But they’re willing to make sacrifices — and deals — to keep their kids playing
“There's travel, the uniforms, pitching in on the lunches,” said Tanisha Curry, 51, who has custody of her granddaughter. She…
To change the culture for kids and parents, we need to think more about how much we're spending, and why. What's your number?
Soccer’s “pay-to-play” model in America is routinely criticized for limiting the country’s success on the international stage at…
Private equity is pouring into youth and amateur sports at a record pace in 2026, with deal value already surging past full-year…
