Key Takeaways
- OTTO PREP connects athletes with roughly 95% of college volleyball programs and generates more than 5 million profile interactions annually, per the company.
- The rebrand follows SportWrench’s August move to OTTO EVENT, putting recruiting, tournaments, and club management under one brand.
- Executives told YSBR that pricing and packaging stay the same for existing University Athlete and SportWrench customers, with no required bundling.
- CEO Luke Zaientz confirmed the company is already working beyond volleyball on the club management side.
A Recruiting Platform Gets a New Name After 22 Years
OTTO SPORT AI announced on October 27 that University Athlete, the recruiting platform college volleyball coaches have relied on since 2004, is now OTTO PREP. The change completes a year of rebranding for the Minneapolis-based company, which moved tournament platform SportWrench to OTTO EVENT in August. OTTO PREP becomes the recruiting and athlete development arm alongside OTTO SPORT, the company’s club management platform, and OTTO EVENT, which handles tournaments and ticketing.
The numbers behind the platform are substantial. According to the company, OTTO PREP connects athletes with approximately 95% of college volleyball programs, generates more than 5 million athlete profile interactions annually, and counts more than 100,000 athletes in recruiting range. Across its full volleyball portfolio, OTTO SPORT AI says it supports hundreds of clubs, roughly 140,000 teams, and 1,700 events each year.
For existing customers, the company said nothing changes in how they use the platform. The same team, technology, and recruiting data remain in place.
Connection Over Consolidation
In an exclusive Q&A with YSBR, JL Vogelaar, CMO and Head of DTC Products at OTTO SPORT AI, pushed back on the idea that the strategy is consolidation for its own sake.
“The winner won’t necessarily be whoever owns the most software,” Vogelaar said. “It will be whoever can connect the experience in a way that genuinely makes life easier for the people running and participating in youth sports.”
The practical version of that connection starts with schedules and rosters. Vogelaar told YSBR that when the events a team is attending appear alongside its practices in OTTO SPORT, families and club directors can work from one schedule instead of several, and college coaches using OTTO PREP can see exactly when and where an athlete is competing. Roster data flows the same way, which the company says gives coaches more accurate team information at events.
How Does the Club’s Role in Recruiting Change?
The piece of the rebrand with the most long-term implications may be the new Club Director experience. Directors can now see their athletes’ recruiting activity inside OTTO PREP and help keep profiles complete and accurate. Vogelaar described the longer-term vision to YSBR as the club becoming “an important connective layer between the athlete, the tournament experience and college recruiting.”
Clubs have always done this work informally. What changes is that the activity now happens inside the same platform where 95% of college programs are already looking.
Volleyball Is the Proof, Not the Ceiling
Zaientz told YSBR the company intends to keep investing aggressively in volleyball before expanding the model, but confirmed OTTO SPORT AI is “already working with organizations beyond volleyball, particularly in the club management side of the business,” and sees opportunity in other large club-based sports. He was equally direct that the approach will not be copying volleyball software and changing the logo, since every sport has its own workflows and culture.
On the question operators care about most, Zaientz left no ambiguity: the rebrands do not change pricing or packaging, and customers are not required to buy the full portfolio. “Integration should create more value for customers, not create a new toll booth,” he said.
That framing is the one to watch. OTTO SPORT AI now sits across the three places a volleyball athlete’s data lives: the club, the tournament, and the recruiting profile. The company says the next step is proving the connected model works in volleyball. Which sport gets the OTTO treatment after that remains the open question.
Source: OTTO SPORT AI press release, October 27, 2026
Source: YSBR Q&A with JL Vogelaar and Luke Zaientz, OTTO SPORT AI, October 2026
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Youth Sports Business Report (YSBR) is the largest and most trusted media platform covering the business of youth sports worldwide. YSBR delivers youth sports news, market intelligence, and original analysis daily across facilities, sponsorships, private equity, NIL, sports technology, and league operations. With more than 50,000 followers, YSBR is the leading source of youth sports industry news for the investors, owners, operators, and brands shaping the future of youth sports.
How big is the youth sports market?
American families spend approximately $54 billion annually on kids’ sports and recreation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica Group Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, with organized sports alone representing a $40 billion-plus market. The average family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46 percent since 2019, per the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, and market research projects the global youth sports market will reach approximately $114 billion by 2032 (Business Research Insights).
How many kids play youth sports in the United States?
Approximately 27.3 million children ages 6 to 17, or about 54.6 percent, played organized sports in 2022-2023, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health as reported by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. High school sports participation reached a record 8.26 million athletes in 2024-25, per the NFHS.
Who founded Youth Sports Business Report?
Youth Sports Business Report was founded by Cameron Korab, a sports marketing veteran with more than a decade in the industry and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Korab also co-founded Vertical Sports, a sports marketing advisory serving brands across youth, college, and pro sports.
What does YSBR cover?
YSBR delivers original reporting and market intelligence on youth sports facilities, youth sports technology, sponsorship and brand partnerships, private equity and venture capital deals, NIL policy, coaching development, equipment and apparel, tournaments and events, and community sports initiatives. Readers include industry executives, investors, facility owners and operators, league administrators, and youth sports parents.
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Hosted by Cameron Korab, founder of Youth Sports Business Report, Jr. Sports Marketing features candid 1-on-1 conversations with the brands, athletes, leagues, and innovators building the future of youth sports. Each episode breaks down how the smartest brands are activating, building equity, and winning with youth sports families. If you’re an operator, founder, investor, or marketer trying to understand where this space is headed, this is your show.
Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? The data is striking: 80 percent of parents say they would choose the brand that sponsors their child’s youth sports program when comparing two similar products, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study by YouGov Sport. A 2026 EMARKETER and DICK’S Media survey found 84 percent of sports parents say that role influences their purchase decisions, and 60 percent spend more on game and practice days, driving loyalty across categories from dining to travel to automotive.
Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
